


Game of Survival

by emiliachristine



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: F/M, Found Family, eventual mando/oc romance, helmetless din in later chapter, kinda slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 54,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21842587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emiliachristine/pseuds/emiliachristine
Summary: What started out as a simple bounty, ended with her being a crewman on the Mandalorian's ship. They become the most proficient bounty duo in the guild. They're handed a job with the promise of a hefty pay. What they didn't expect was for the target to be a child. A fifty-year-old child.
Relationships: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s), The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 111





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you to my friend Susiesamurai for beta reading this prologue!

_Two souls don’t find each other by simple accident_

* * *

“Just stay right here.” 

Amreen barely paid any mind to the enhanced voice that was speaking to her. She was too focused on the searing pain that was radiating her left thigh. Bearing herself for the worst, Amreen allowed herself to glance down and saw the torn, bloody flesh. She brought her hand up to her lips, biting down on the knuckle to stifle a scream. God, what did she get herself into? This was supposed to be a simple bounty. A quick in and out. Instead, she encountered a Mandalorian who was trying to collect the same target. Still, he wasn’t _the_ problem. The target had a band of members who ambushed them. She should’ve just left--she was so close to doing so. But the Mandalorian got cornered. She did what most people in her position wouldn’t have done… she saved his ass. 

Got a nasty injury in the process. 

Amreen gritted her teeth, then moved her one hand to press against the injury. The contact caused the pain to flare and travel up her thigh. Her back arched, she barely managed to bite back a scream. She couldn’t breathe, her chest ached, her vision was going in and out--black spots decorated her vision. This was the most pain she had ever been. 

Hot blood continued to stream down her leg and between her fingers, the pain having now dissolved into an aching throb. This is what she gets the one time she decides to be a decent person. Nothing good ever comes with trying to help. She knew that better than anyone. “Idiot,” she hissed at herself. To get her mind off the pain, Amreen focused on leveling her breathing, trying to ride out the waves of pain that started up. 

“Let me take a look.” 

That familiar voice made her grit her teeth together. She rested her head against the wall, scrunching her eyes closed. Suddenly, a gloved hand took hold of the hand that was pressed against her wound. Amreen jerked forward, her other hand was around his wrist in a vice grip. Her eyes stared him down, cold and unwavering.

The Mandalorian merely stared at her, the image of his helmet being the only thing staring back at her. It was almost unsettling. “Let me help.” His voice was more stern, but not harsh or demanding. 

Amreen held her gaze on him, her hand not loosening its grip, she didn’t know who this guy was. She couldn’t trust him. Yet again, he brought her onto his ship when he could’ve easily left her. That’s got to count for something. Her thoughts were interrupted when a sharp pain made her leg jolt. She broke her gaze and released her hold on him. 

He gently pulled her hand away from the injury, immediately realizing that he couldn’t get a clear look at it. He cut away at the fabric impeding his few of the injury. A part of him felt bad, knowing that she had no other clothes to change into. But this was necessary if he was to give her proper treatment. With enough of the fabric cut away, he was able to see the severity of the wound. “I need to stop the bleeding before I can patch you up,” he said while reaching over for a clean piece of cloth. “This is probably going to hurt.” 

A strained groan was the only response he received.

Taking that as his cue, he pressed the cloth to the injury, feeling her body immediately tense from the contact. The cloth became soaked with blood almost instantly. He removed the soaked cloth and picked up a fresh one. Before pressing it to the injury, he took a quick assessment of the gash. The length started from the middle of her thigh and ran down to the top of her knee. The cut only appeared to be a few inches deep which was good. That meant patching it up wouldn’t be an issue. 

She had been watching him inspect the injury, his silence was unnerving. “Is it bad?” Amreen’s tired and agonized voice asked. 

“It isn’t too bad,” he answered and pressed the cloth against the injury, his other hand rested against her calf to keep her from moving. “The bleeding seems to be subsiding.” That faster it stops, the quicker he can get her patched up and it would all be over with.

“This is what I get for trying to help someone,” she hissed through her teeth. “I’m really too nice for my own good.” Amreen belted out a laugh but was quickly silenced when the hunter applied a little too much pressure. “Ow!”

“Keep the pressure on it.” He moved her hand to hold the cloth in place before turning back to the medkit he had brought with him. 

Amreen did what she was told, usually, she would’ve argued against it. But with how much pain she was in, there was no room for negotiation. The Mandalorian reached for a tool, she recognized it as a cauterizer when he brought it close enough. 

“Now this is definitely going to hurt.” He told her offhandedly. 

Amreen eyed the familiar tool, knowing exactly what she was about to experience. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, “Just get it over with.” 

The Mandalorian readied the tool and wiped away as much of the leftover blood that he could. _At least the bleeding had lessened enough._ He clicked on the tool, a low hum resonated from it, sending a chill down Amreen’s spine. It brought back many memories of her time on a trader’s ship and the many injuries she saw and dealt with. “Try not to move,” he glanced up to see that she had ripped off the sleeve of her shirt and was now biting down on the fabric. “Here we go.” 

Her teeth were already biting down hard on the fabric. She hoped that this would make the process more tolerable. At least it would muffle her screams to some extent. But she wasn’t prepared. Instant white pain radiated her thigh. It felt like a hot poker was being stabbed into her leg, driving down to her bone. A stifled scream cut through the ship and Amreen rested her head against the wall. 

“Just hang in there.” The Mandalorian continued on down the length of the cut. Her screams only intensified. He spared a glance in her direction, seeing that her face was red and eyes scrunched closed. The sight only made his stomach twist. She was in this predicament because of him, because she chose to help him when she could’ve easily left him to fend for himself. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. For all intents and purposes, he felt at fault for her being in this much pain. He swallowed down that guilt and continued to work efficiently on sealing up the wound. When he came to a section of the wound was a little deeper, he felt her entire body jerk. He gently squeezed her calf, signaling to her that she had to sit still. 

Amreen got the message. Despite the pain, she managed to still her body but an agonized muffled scream followed after. Delirium settled in. She became light-headed, unable to keep herself focused. Her vision blurred and soon, it was silent. Her entire body relaxed and it caught his attention.

He paused to look at her, seeing that her head was resting against the wall. Eyes closed and all tension in her body gone--she was so still. There’s no way she’s... he rose from his seat and slowly approached her. He gently shook her by the shoulder, nothing. He went in closer, even removing the article of clothing from her mouth. “Hey,” he tried coaxing her awake. Still, nothing. But she was breathing, evident by the faint rise of her chest. 

_She’s still alive, just passed out._ “It’s for the best, then you won’t feel a thing.” 

Wanting to take advantage of the opportunity, The Mandalorian quickly went back to work. With her unconscious, he didn’t have to listen to her agonized screams or worry about her moving too much. He finished within a few minutes, then cleaned up the dried blood as best as he could. As a precaution, he secured a good amount of gauze to keep the wound clean overnight. For a moment, it crossed his mind to move her to one of the spare beds but decided against it. He didn’t want to risk waking her up, preferring for her to sleep the rest of the night. 

He cleaned up the table, putting away the supplies and placed the medkit back in its place. From his living quarters, he brought out a spare blanket and draped it over her. He lingered in place for a moment, then retreated to the bench across from her, intent on keeping an eye on her through the night. The cauterizer was good at preventing infections. Still, he wanted to be sure. As he settled on the bench, he knew that it was going to be a long night with little sleep on his end. 

* * *

Awareness returned at a slow and gradual pace. 

The first sense that came through was her hearing. It was quiet, aside from the wind outside that was beating against the ship. Her head weighed a ton, with a terrible ache that resonated behind her eyes. Due to that, she was glad that it was quiet. 

After finally getting her bearings, Amreen shifted and tried moving her legs, forgetting at the moment that she had a terrible leg injury. The instant burning in her thigh made Amreen pause. She pulled the blanket from her body, taking a few curious seconds to wonder where it had come from, before proceeding to check her wound. There was a thick gauze taped over the injury, she tried peeling it off but gave up shortly into the endeavor. She knew that messing with it would only irritate her injury. For the first time since waking up, Amreen finally allowed herself to take in her surroundings. She was still on the Mandalorian’s ship, sitting on the same bench he sat her on. A plate of food and a cup were sitting on the table in front of her. It had been untouched. 

_It must be for me then_. 

She gingerly reached forward and picked up a piece of bread. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it had been almost two days since she last ate anything. She took one bite and silently chewed, trying to ignore the throbbing in her leg. Amreen went to take another bite when her stomach churned, she glanced down at the bread in her hand, feeling sick just looking at it. She dropped the bread back onto the plate then went for the cup. The cold liquid felt good going down her throat which felt sore for some reason. 

She paused, memories from last night came flooding back. The pain, her screams, the sound of the cauterizer humming as the Mandalorian patched her up. It made a chill go down her spine. She placed the cup down on the table, wondering where the hunter in question was. Amreen realized that she would need to venture on an endeavor to find him and thank him for what he did. 

Amreen took in a slow breath, preparing for the pain that was bound to come once she got up on her feet. She slowly secured her hands around her left leg, gently moving it over the side of the bench. Little pain but nothing she couldn’t handle. Now came the rough part. Bracing her hands on the bench, Amreen pushed herself up, settling first on her good leg and using the table for balance. Then, slowly, she put pressure down on her left leg. It wasn’t until she pressed her heel to the ground did she feel sharp pain travel up her leg. She hesitated, lifting her left leg up and balancing her hands on the table. She tried putting pressure back on her bad leg, going at a little slower this time. 

Still painful but manageable. 

She hobbled around the table, putting her leg through a test run before trying to walk through this entire ship in search of the Mandalorian. The pain started to numb her leg which meant she could put a bit more pressure on it. And it was her cue to set off to find the other bounty hunter. Amreen fell into a step-hop routine, finding that it lessened the pain in her leg. Almost halfway into her endeavor, she realized that she had no idea the layout of this ship. There wasn’t exactly the time for her to familiarize herself with the ship last night. The cockpit was empty when she found it. Turning down a small hallway, she found the ship’s main hangar and the ramp door was open. She took that as a promising sign. 

Amreen limped down the ramp, giving a small shiver when she finally stepped outside. It was a lot cooler than yesterday. It must have rained during the night given with how wet the grass was. But she could still smell smoke lingering in the air. Amreen grimaced, thinking about the skeletal remains of her ship, destroyed beyond recognition by the asset and his men. That was another predicament that needed her full attention. What the hell was she going to do without a ship? She could join another hunter temporary, most are usually looking for crew members. Though, she knew most of the guild members and they aren’t looking for crewman. For now, she was absolutely screwed. 

“You’re awake.” 

Amreen was startled out of her thoughts by that familiar voice. She turned and stood in an awkward stance to avoid putting full pressure on her left leg. She actually felt kind of ridiculous. “Yeah, how long was I out for?” 

“Just for the night.” The Mandalorian messed with the tool in his hands. But he watched her closely, incase her leg gave out on her. “You feeling any better?” 

“Uh, still sore.” Amreen made the point by straightening out her leg and taking a step. She limped forward and stopped, “Yep, still sore but doing better. Sorry for passing out like that.” 

“It was good that you did,” he answered. “You weren’t in pain then.” 

“Right,” Amreen watched as he went about messing with a tool kit, this made her curious. “What’s wrong with your ship?” 

“Fuel leak, but nothing too serious.” 

Amreen gave a single nod, then carefully approached him. “Let me fix it.” 

He paused to look at her. 

She merely shrugged, “What, it’s the least I can do after you patched me up last night.” She grabbed the tool from his hand, relieved that he didn’t put up a fuss to take it back. Plus, it wasn’t like she could repair her own ship. Might as well make sure his was fine. 

“You know, you should probably let yourself rest more.” He answered back as she limped over to the ship. 

“If you need to know one thing about me, it’s that I can’t stand sitting around doing nothing.” Amreen took a moment to assess the damage. A minor fuel leak, the damage would be easy to repair. He was right. “Besides, if I keep myself busy then I won’t pay attention to the throbbing pain in my leg.” 

“Which is why you should take it easy.” 

Amreen turned to look at him, “I am taking it easy,” she gestured to herself with the tool, showing that she was keeping pressure off her leg. “And trust me, I’ve had worse injuries and still managed my way.” 

“I don’t doubt it.” 

Did a Mandalorian just compliment her? Definitely not something she ever expected to happen to her. Then again, she never expected to actually meet a Mandalorian. The only thing she had ever heard about them was from stories and what she’s read growing up. After the Great Purge, the entire colony went into hiding, scattered across the galaxy. In her tenure as a bounty hunter, she’s only seen one a few times in passing. She never exchanged words with them. Now here she was having a somewhat decent conversation with one. Probably the biggest twist to happen in her life. 

Amreen got started on the repair, with the Mandalorian looming not far behind her. He’d offer his help when he saw it fit. If she needed another tool, he would get it for her. If she looked a little winded, he would offer her something to drink or something quick to eat. At one point, she had to press her hand against the hull of the ship, her good leg was starting to cramp with bearing down all the weight. Again, he would tell her that she should rest. Amreen would just brush it off. 

One thing that he concluded without trouble was how stubborn she was. Someone who didn’t take much care about her own well-being which was something he could understand. He was often the same way. Still, she _was_ under his care at the moment and he wasn’t going to let her overwork herself after the strenuous night she had. He kept a close eye on her, taking into account how many times she faltered in her stance, inching a little closer when it looked like she was going to pass out. It was an overstatement to say that he was relieved when she finally finished the repair. She even smiled at herself for accomplishing the task. 

Rain started to drizzle not long after, and with thunder rolling above them, he suggested that they retreat inside the Razor Crest. Amreen didn’t object to it. She didn’t admit it to him but that endeavor drained almost all of her energy. She scowled to herself as he led her up the ramp, there was no way she would vocalize this win to him. 

He tried to lead her to the spare room but stopped when she plopped herself back on the bench she had occupied during the night. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly approached her. “I do have a spare room you can use,” 

She had already settled herself in: legs propped up on the bench and her head leaning against the wall. “This is fine.” She replied, in a rather drowsy tone.

“I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable there.” He tried again.

Amreen rested her hands on her stomach and exhaled a deep breath, “Hmm, this is fine.” 

He remained still, watching her resting form. The thermal readings in his helmet told him that her core temp was lowering. That combined with the fact that her breathing had leveled out, she was fast asleep. He wasn’t sure what to do next, feeling quite awkward with just standing there and watching her. He picked up the spare blanket and, just like the night before, gently placed it over her. Taking a step back, he noticed that the food he had laid out had barely been touched. But the cup was empty, he found out after picking it up for inspection. He did find it rather peculiar with how easily she was able to fall asleep. The fact that she was on an unfamiliar ship with someone she didn’t know. Although, he could only surmise that if he were in her position, he wouldn’t care that much. Given the fact that she slept through the night and nothing happened to her must have been enough to make her comfortable. 

There was nothing for him to do. He didn’t plan on taking off until he spoke with her about what she wanted to do. If there was somewhere he could take her. Still, she would be without a ship. He knew that thing was an investment for her. Could he really just drop her off somewhere knowing she had no means of getting around? No way to go out for other bounties. She could possibly join another bounty hunter’s crew. But most he knew rather liked the solitude lifestyle or already had enough crewmen to support. This was a conversation best saved for when she woke up. With nothing to do but wait, the Mandalorian sat himself down on the bench across from her, mimicking the same posture from last night. Except for this time, he didn’t fall asleep. He merely listened to the rain pounding against the ship. 

* * *

All her senses came at her full force. 

She jolted awake, her body immediately stiffened by her aching joints. But it was also the sight of the Mandalorian lounging on the bench across from her that caught her by surprise as well. Her eyes narrowed at his still form, wondering if he was asleep. Of course, she couldn’t tell with him wearing that helmet. She wondered if he ever took the thing off. Obviously he had to in order to eat. It was a stupid thought on her part. Still, she was curious as to who it was underneath that mask. 

“You like what you see,” he asked while slowly tilting his head to the side to look at her. 

She immediately shrugged and broke her gaze, trying to hide the embarrassment from having been caught staring, “Just wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or not.” Sitting up, she pressed a hand to her bandaged leg, massaging it in an effort to lessen the soreness. “How long was I out this time?” 

“Only a few hours.” He stood up from the bench and gestured at the still full plate of food. “You should eat.”

“Not that hungry.” 

“It’ll help.” 

Amreen sent a glare his way, he was standing his ground. And she did find it quite annoying that she couldn’t look him directly in the eye. She had no way of knowing what he was thinking and she hated that. He said nothing as he walked off. And not wanting to hear any form of a lecture from him, Amreen started to munch away at the food. She took it slow, not wanting to upset her stomach as she had earlier. The Mandalorian returned, having brought more water for her. She silently watched him place the cup down on the table and then returned to his bench. “Thank you,” she finally said. 

He merely watched her, not saying anything. 

“Thanks for bringing me here and for patching me up,” Amreen picked at the bread in her hands, stuffing small pieces into her mouth. “You could’ve easily left me which is what I expected to happen, so thanks again.” 

“My recollection, you helped me first and got injured because of it, not to mention your ship got destroyed.” He paused upon seeing the looks of dismay that crossed her face. “It was the least I could do. Thank you for helping me.” 

“Yeah, like I said last night, I’m too nice for my own good.” That sounded a lot harsher than she had intended. But she had no damn ship, she had every right to be bitter about it. “Most hunters would have just left, and of course, the time that I choose to help, my leg gets messed up and I lose my ship, guess luck just wasn’t in my cards.” 

“Why did you do it?” 

The question threw her off. “I don’t know.” She continued to break off pieces of the bread as she contemplated her answer. Why _did_ she help him? Amreen had a clear window for her escape. The asset’s men were preoccupied with fighting off the Mandalorian. She made the mistake of looking back and seeing that he was cornered. It sparked something within her. Having worked on a trader’s ship for a few years, she became used to the idea of helping other crew-members. Especially when their ships were raided. But he wasn’t a member of her crew. He was just a lone Mandalorian who offered her a deal to split the bounty if they worked together. It was an impulse choice. But it ensured that both she and the Mandalorian got out of that situation alive. “Guess it was just an impulse.” She added. “But you’re welcome.” 

The next few moments were followed by agonizing silence. Amreen tried to busy herself with finishing the food, all while trying not to stare at the hunter across from her. Again, with that helmet, she couldn’t get a good read on the guy. 

“You need to figure out what you’re going to do next.” 

Her jaw immediately tensed. “Given my situation, I don’t really have that many options.” She pushed her plate away, having eaten as much as her stomach could tolerate. “I guess you can drop me off at the nearest port and I’ll figure my way from there.” 

He mulled over her words for a moment, thinking of an alternative that might be better for her. “We still have that deal.” 

“What deal?” 

“Capture the bounty, split the reward.” Amreen huffed out a laugh, but he continued. “Odds are they probably think we’re dead. I still have the fob tracking on the asset. I know where they are. We can go get them, hand them over for the reward.” 

Something about this was very odd to her. The biggest thing she learned about being a bounty hunter was to always look out for herself, to take the route that gave her the best outcome. She fully expected him to agree with dropping her off at a nearby planet and go on to collect his bounty. But this was different. “You’re definitely not what I expected a Mandalorian to be.” 

His back straightened at hearing these words, “How did you expect me to be then?” 

She bit her lip and gave a small shrug, understanding how her words could come off as insulting. “I’ve never actually met one. I’ve come across one a couple of times in the past, never spoken to them. The only thing I know about your culture and your people is from what I’ve read. Stories that have been passed down to me. It’s all just preconceived ideas.”

“What are they?” 

He really is going to make her say it. Amreen leaned back until she was resting against the wall. “I always thought of Mandalorians as cunning, brash, they were said to be the greatest warriors in the galaxy. Strong ethics, extremely loyal to their own. Questionable morals, perhaps?” Her eyes narrowed in curiosity at him. “But you don’t seem brash, you saved my life when you could’ve easily just left. And you’re still willing to hold up a deal that we agreed on moments after meeting. You could collect the entire reward by just dropping me off somewhere, why not just do that?” 

“You saved my life too,” he replied with great ease. “I’ve also been in difficult situations like this before.” 

“Oh,” she nodded and then smirked. “So you have a soft spot.” She laughed upon seeing him hesitate. It’s gotten easy to decipher his body language, given that’s all she has to go on. “It’s okay I won’t tell anyone.” 

“I could change the deal.” 

Now that's what she was waiting for. For him to drop everything and pull the rug out from under her. Honestly, she couldn’t even be upset about it. It’s what she would have done as well. She motioned for him to tell her. 

“You come with me to get the asset, we turn them over, get the reward and you can take up a place here.” 

“Here,” she repeated and then slowly glanced around the ship. “On your ship?” She saw him nod at her question but that didn’t lessen the disbelief she was experiencing. “Like what, just a crewman?” 

“We’ll take on bounties.” 

“If you feel like you owe me still, you don’t.” She snapped, not wanting pity from him. “You have already done enough for me.” She motioned at her leg. 

He understood where she was coming from but that didn’t sway him from continuing. “You can stay on for as long as you want. If you manage to save up enough, then you’re welcome to leave, you’re not obligated to stay.” 

“A temporary arrangement.” 

“Yes.” 

It was a very generous offer. A little too generous. A part of her thought there might be some form of catch to his offer. But she couldn’t think of any. She ran a hand down her face, trying to fully take in all everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Amreen thought she was going in for a simple bounty. It ended with her ship destroyed, personal belongings burnt to nothing and a nasty leg wound. But now she was being offered a chance to turn it all around. She was being given a place on a hunter’s ship, a share of payment for herself and no strings attached. She could leave whenever she saw fit. 

_It’s only a temporary arrangement,_ she reminded herself. Besides, this Mandalorian didn’t seem to be all that bad. Not the most talkative individual. But he knew how to fight, from what she saw during the altercation, which made sense. He’s a Mandalorian after all. And she wouldn’t admit it to him, but they acted as a pretty good team back there. _This could work,_ she cast a glance over at his direction. He had been very quiet and incredibly patient waiting for her answer. What better choice did she have? “Traversing the galaxy with a Mandalorian should be interesting.” 

He tilted his head, curious about how that was her way of answering him. “I guess that means you’re taking up my offer.”

“Well, if you want to be all formal about it… yeah.”

“Alright.” He stood up from the bench and approached her. “I never got your name.” 

“Amreen Carr.” She then folded her arms across her chest, expectantly. “Am I supposed to call you something specific? Or should I just call you the Mandalorian?” 

“Most call me Mando.” 

She hummed to herself, accepting the alias. “You do have a name though, right?” 

“Yes.” 

Amreen didn’t know much about the Mandalorian’s culture. She knew that their armor was sacred, and they were known for not taking their helmets off. Their anonymity was in itself a weapon that they utilized to the fullest extent. This was a boundary she needed to respect if she wanted this to work out. “Okay, good. I won’t ask for it, so I’ll just call you Mando.” 

He nodded. Then extended his hand out towards her. She eyed it, thinking whether this is what she wanted. It didn’t matter whether she wanted it, it was all about what would make this situation better for her. And she was looking at him right now. She leaned forward and took hold of his hand in a firm shake. 

Only a temporary arrangement. 

  
  



	2. Take What You Can Get

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, big thanks to my friend SusieSamurai for beta-reading this chapter!! Also thank you to everyone who commented, kudos and bookmarked!! All of the positive feedback made my entire week!! THANK YOU!

_Three Years Later…_

_...._

The cold wind was bitter. It stung at her eyes, forcing Amreen to squint them halfway shut. She pulled her overcoat closer to her body, slowly taking in the barren wasteland around them. The town was small and quaint, a result of the low population density on this planet. Not to mention the hellish weather conditions. She stepped into place next to Din, eyes focusing on the tracking fob in his hand.

He scanned the area in front of them, the fob picking up the asset’s presence right away, it was close--in fact, the asset was right ahead of them. The building in question was the only cantina in town. Din stashed the fob into his beltline and tilted his head to look at her. Even with her scarf pulled up over her mouth and nose, Din could still see the red discoloration on her face from the cold. But nothing hinted to him that it bothered her. She never did complain much about where they traveled to. It was all part of the job. 

Amreen glanced up at him, blinking away the snowflakes sticking to her eyelashes. She nodded her head in the direction of the bar. _Let’s get in and out._

The bar was small and barely packed when they entered. Their presence caught everyone’s attention. But they were able to spot the asset out of the bunch being manhandled by a few trawlers. One of them called out to them in Huttese. Amreen’s knowledge of Huttese was sparse at best, but his tone of voice wasn’t the most welcoming. He seemed rather peeved about them being there. He’ll be trouble. They simply ignored the trawlers, instead deciding to take their place at the bar counter. 

True to her initial thought, the trawlers approached the pair. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the trawler who had called out to them was standing right next to her. She kept her eyes forward, taking notice at how close this man was standing next to her. He didn’t know the definition of personal space. He eyed her form and leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath against her face. 

Din was quick to notice this. He barely turned his head in the man’s direction, he saw the way the trawler was looking at her. It’s something he’s encountered several times since their partnership started. Other men who would get a little too handsy for their own good. Din learned quickly that she was very capable of handling the situation herself. Still, that knowledge failed to prevent him from flaring up with anger at seeing it happen. The trawler noticed him staring and threw him a deathly glare as a warning. It did nothing to break his gaze. He watched as the man slowly raised his hand to Amreen’s face, stroking at her cheek. Din felt his hand twitch, making the move to do something but paused when he saw the other men circling them. They must have noticed his little tick. 

Amreen’s body tensed at the unwanted attention. The man went to pull down her scarf and her reaction was instantaneous. She gripped his wrist and twisted, a sickening crack coincided with the man’s agonized scream. A swift kick to his leg popped his kneecap, and with her hand braced against the back of his neck, she pushed him down until his head made contact with the counter and his body slumped to the floor. A pair of hands grabbed her arm, she pulled out her blaster, whirled around and slammed the butt of her gun against the assailant’s head. With a kick to the abdomen, the attacker was incapacitated. There was a cry that garnered her attention. She looked up in time to see one of the trawlers stuck in the door as it slowly closed on them, cutting their body in two. It took a moment to realize that it was Din who committed the act. 

Din placed his blaster back into its holster before turning to look at her. He gave her a single nod, _You okay?_ were the unspoken words. 

Amreen nodded, following in suit with stashing her blaster back into her holster. 

The two focused their attention on the lone Mythrol that the trawlers were harassing upon their arrival. The Mythrol was Din and Amreen’s asset. He situated himself into a chair and smiled at them, still somewhat rattled from being heckled. “Thank you for handling that,” he motioned casually at the four bodies strewn about the place. “You both have my heartfelt gratitude.” 

The duo remained silent. It unnerved him to no end. Was he about to get harassed again? “Here, you know what, you both can take my credits--buy yourselves a drink.” He said, trying to diffuse the weird energy that was radiating off the duo. 

Amreen reached into her pocket, “Don’t think that’s gonna happen, buddy.” She placed the puck down on the table, the bounty for the Mythrol displayed before him. 

He hesitated. They were bounty hunters. No wonder they were acting strange around him. His mind got to work quickly, trying to conjure a plan to get out of it. “Is that a bounty puck?” He questioned, no response. “Is that me?” 

_Trying to play dumb, nice._ Amreen thought to herself. A tactic she has encountered hundreds of times, still no less amusing. 

“Listen, there must be a mistake, I can get you both more credits--”

“We can bring you in warm,” Din warned, his hand moving to the blaster in his beltline. “Or we can bring you in cold.” 

The Mythrol’s eyes moved from Din to Amreen, the latter merely raising her eyebrows at him. She then pointed to the bottom half of the dissected trawler near the door, “I don’t think you want to come in cold.” 

He couldn’t fight his way out of this. Given what he just witnessed, it would be suicide to even try. He eyed the puck once more, then his entire body deflated. 

Mission accomplished. 

Amreen glanced over at Din, her hand reached out towards him, waiting for something, “My turn to cuff.” 

Din merely stared at her. The corners of her eyes wrinkled the same way they did every time she smiled. With a casual sigh, Din pulled the cuffs out and handed them to her. 

* * *

Amreen carded a hand through her hair, moving her hand down to the back of her neck. She leaned her head against the headrest, silently listening to the Mythrol talking down in the cargo hold. She couldn’t make out everything he was saying. But she did catch onto the words _Life Day._ Too bad he won’t be able to celebrate it. 

It suddenly went silent for a brief moment, then the all too familiar hiss of the freezing chamber echoed up from the cargo hold. 

“At least that’s over with,” Amreen checked the controls and flight route, seeing that they were not that far from Nevarro. The sliding doors to the cockpit opened and the sound of footsteps followed soon after. “I’m surprised you dealt with his spiel for that long,” she swiveled the pilot seat around so she could face him. Just with the way his shoulders were slumped, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You think we should’ve given him the chance to experience Life Day one last time?” Amreen pulled down the scarf from her face, her smile growing upon doing so. 

Under his helmet, Din also smiled, forgetting that she was unable to see it. But she’s gotten good with picking up on what he was thinking. He was proven right when she laughed again at his silence. 

“I’d say that was our best record for completing more than one bounty.” Din never understood why she insisted on keeping tabs on it. She only professed that it was a fun thing to do. How she considered that fun he wasn’t exactly sure. But he let her do it, nothing about it ever caused him annoyance. Amreen relinquished the pilot’s seat, “We’ll be in Nevarro soon.” She went to exit the cockpit when Din’s voice stopped her.

“Are you okay?” He had wanted to ask her that sooner. But with them having to deal with the Mythrol first, he put it off until now. 

“Yes,” she furrowed her brows at his question. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“He touched you.” 

The trawler. Right. “Yeah,” she nodded quietly, the strain in his voice made her hesitate. “And he got a broken wrist and a dislocated knee, I’d say the score is settled.” She finished with a smile, hoping to ease the tension that suddenly built up in Din’s shoulders. “No big deal.” Amreen pressed her hand against the side of Din’s helmet, a habit she picked up on a few months into their partnership. It didn’t take long for Din to explain the situation with his helmet. How he could never take it, that she would never know what he looked it. Truthfully, it was a little difficult to wrap her mind around at first. Not being able to see her partner’s face was rather strange. But she grew used to it rather quickly. To compensate for the literal barrier that was his helmet, she adopted this little habit as a sign of affection. A habit that Din grew rather fond of. 

She removed her hand from its place. The disappointment that crossed Din’s features conveniently hidden under his helmet. “You hungry?” 

“No.” The word felt thick when it left his mouth. It left him confused and hoping that she didn’t notice. Amreen only offered him a smile before exiting the cockpit much to his relief. 

When the Razor Crest touched down on Nevarro, Din had almost forgotten his slip up. It was only when he saw her down in the cargo hold did he feel the tightness in his throat. He simply ignored it as best he could. 

When they exited the craft, Amreen took a glance at one of the landing struts. She could spot the minor damage that needed to be corrected. _Damn Ravinak._ She pulled the scarf back over her mouth and nose, then stepped into place with Din as they entered the town and towards the cantina. It was packed, as usual, the same regulars--other hunters that she recognized. Not particularly friendly with any of them. 

Near the far corner of the cantina, Greef Karga sat alone in one of the booths, his attention was on the duo as they approached him. A quite surprised look on his face. “You two finished already?” Din placed the deactivated fobs down onto the table. That was the only answer Greef needed. “I’d say that was record time, I’ll start the unloading,” he motioned at one of his men, who quickly left the cantina. 

Din unhooked the rifle, then motioned for Amreen to take a seat in the booth. She did just that with Din following in suit quickly after. 

“No problems on the job?” Greef asked, hoping to spark up a decent conversation.

Din wasn’t interested so Amreen took the bait. “No more than usual.” 

Greef nodded at her answer then fished through his pockets and presented the duo with their payment. 

They both eyed the credits silently. “These are Imperial credits.” Din pointed out.

“They still spend.” 

“I don’t know if you heard but the Empire is gone.” 

“It’s all I got.” 

“All you got?” She reached for one of the credits, taking only a moment to inspect it. “What’s with the slim forms of payments, Greef?”

The man in question answered her with a small shrug. She tossed the credit back onto the table, unsatisfied with his answer. Din reached for the fobs, intent on walking out with them but Greef was quick to stop him. “Cut the theatrics,” a look of dismay briefly crossed his face. “Fine, I can do Calamari Flan but I can only pay half.” 

Only half. A major cut that didn’t sit well with either of them. Din silently regarded her, his head tilting slightly. Better to get half a payment than nothing for a bounty. Amreen nodded in agreement.

“Fine,” Din placed the fobs back down, took the payment and stashed it back into his pocket. “We want our next job.” 

Din’s quick aversion was enough to stall Greef. “You know, it would be nice to be able to have a conversation every once in a while.” 

With the scarf covering her mouth, Amreen was able to smirk without it being noticed. “You know how it is, Greef,” she spoke up. “We like to keep busy.” 

“Yes, I know.” He replied, rather despondently. He pulled out a leather pouch full of bounty pucks. “Let’s see,” he started taking them out one by one. “I’ve got a bail jumper, a bail jumper, another bail jumper,” Greef gave a small noise of surprise, “And a wanted smuggler.” 

“Great, we’ll take them all.” Din reached for the pucks, quite eager to get back out on the next job. Greef was quick, placing his hands over the pucks to stop Din from taking them.

“Hold on, there are other members of the guild and this is all I have.” 

“Why so slow?” 

“Not slow it’s very busy… they just don’t like to pay guild rates. They don’t mind if things get a little sloppy.” 

The statement made Amreen snicker. “And oftentimes, sloppiness leads to problems for guilds and the job never gets done right.” Greef couldn’t think of anything to combat her words. But it was clear that he wasn’t going to budge with giving up the entire bulk. Amreen sighed as she eyed the bounty pucks on the table, her teeth bit down on the bottom lip. “Alright, what’s the highest bounty you have then?” 

“Five thousand.” 

The Mandalorian next to her made a small noise. “That won’t even cover fuel these days.” 

“Well, there is one job.” 

“Let’s see the puck.”

“No puck. Face to face. Direct commission. Deep pocket.” 

That made Amreen tick her head to the side. “You’re talking a real under the table deal.” 

“Not like you two haven’t dealt with those before.” The briefest smirk crossed Greef’s face. “All I know is that there’s no chain code,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a transponder. “Do you want it or not?” 

Greef had been right. Din and Armreen have dealt with underground jobs before. They’ve met with a fair amount of individuals that unsettled them. But they always got the job done regardless. “Gotta take what we can get,” Amreen answered as Din took the transponder from Greef. 

“You’re right.” Greef settled back into the booth, silently watching the duo rise from their place. “Good luck.” 

* * *

They were stood outside a rusted door located down an empty corridor. Not a single soul around them. The location made perfect sense for an underground network. They have dealt with underground bounties before. Still, there was always a gnawing sense of paranoia that ate away at her stomach. They could never know how a meeting with a client would go. A few occasions granted them some bad experiences that they wish to forget. Lessons were learned. 

When Din banged on the metal door, Amreen felt her stomach churn. The gatekeeper droid popped out from its place and Din presented the transponder. The droid retreated to its place and the door opened. They were greeted by a lone GNK droid who made way for both of them to enter. It was dark, the place wasn’t that well kept up. That was expected from underground networks. The droid led the duo to a second door, they waited for a moment before it finally opened. Amreen’s heart nearly stopped at the sight of six armed stormtroopers, their attention all focused on the two of them. 

Din could feel Amreen tense behind him. He gave a gentle tap to her wrist, then took the first step into the room. 

She followed, keeping close to him, her eyes scanned over every single stormtrooper, sizing up their height and taking note of their weapons. What the hell were Imperials doing on Nevarro? Ahead of them, sitting at a table, was an older man dressed in dark robes and a medallion of the Imperial emblem hung proudly around his neck. She forced herself to keep a neutral reaction. 

“Greef Karga said that you two were coming.” 

The door behind them closed. Amreen gave a start and turned to look behind her. God, she hated how skittish she felt right now. When meeting Empire remnants, the last thing one would want is to appear scared. 

“What else did he say?” Din asked.

“That you two were the best duo in the Guild.” 

A door opened without warning. The duo had their weapons drawn in a matter of seconds. Amreen had each arm stretched out, aiming her blasters at two stormtroopers at either side. Her eyes bore down on their helmets, daring them to make the first move. She looked forward, seeing a timid man with dark facial hair cowering at the sight of Din's gun aimed at him. 

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to startle you.” His hands were up in defense, showing that he meant no trouble. 

“This is Doctor Pershing,” the client stood up from the table and rounded it so that he was standing in front of the duo. “His enthusiasm outweighs his discretion.” He eyed the weapons in their hands then gestured to them. “Please, lower both of your weapons.” 

“Tell them to lower theirs first.”

“We have you both four to one.” 

She tightened the grip on her blasters and straightened her aim more, “We’ve had worse odds.” 

The client ventured closer. Eventually, his hand found its way to her wrist. An unwelcome touch that caused her to glare him down. “Greef Karga told me that you both are expensive… very expensive, please sit.” The older man motioned for the troopers to lower their weapons as he went to take his seat at the table. 

Amreen scanned the group before them, watching as each of them lowered their aims. Once every weapon was down, she slowly placed her blasters back into their holster. Her heart continued to pound within her chest, it should’ve calmed her down--the troopers lowering their weapons. But they were in the company of remaining members of the Empire. That was an unsettling fact she couldn’t seem to shake off. 

Despite the gnawing instinct to leave the room, Amreen took up one of the empty seats, trying to minimize eye contact with the client as much as possible. Being in this room with Imperial remnants was enough to bring back that sense of dread. The loss. The pain. The grief. All the people she had lost. Sitting here in negotiations with the Imps made her feel like she was betraying her loved ones. Belittling everything that they had stood for. Of course, she lost her rights to those ideals when she abandoned her home. She turned her back on her family to travel through the galaxy with a new identity. Still, she thought about them almost every day. Wondering if any of them were still alive, how were they managing? Did any of them start families of their own? Questions that she’s asked herself plenty of times but never dared to find out for herself. 

_“We can only provide you with a tracking fob.”_

Amreen had been engrossed in her thoughts, she missed the first part of the negotiations. She remembered watching the client hand out a steel block. It was called… Beskar, she finally remembered. The doctor who had entered earlier carefully approached her. Her head snapped in his direction, she eyed the fob in his hand before taking it from him. 

“What’s the chain code?” Din asked.

“We can only provide you with the last four digits.” 

Amreen absentmindedly handed the fob over to Din, her attention on the conversation was still hazy. She ignored the fact that Din had stared at her for a good moment. No doubt he would bring this up once they’ve left. She watched him mess around with his vambrace, reading through the data given from the fob. 

“Their age?” Din questioned. “That’s all you’re going to give us?” 

That was… odd. Why so discrete? Why such sparse information? Who the hell was this asset they were being hired to track down?” 

“They are fifty-years-old, we can also give you the last recorded position of data. That combined with your skills, you two should make quick work of this.” 

The door behind them opened, two of the stormtroopers were on either side of them. It was time for them to go and Amren wasn’t going to be told twice. She stood from her seat, went to leave when the client spoke up again. 

“Don’t forget the other half of your down payment.” He pointed to the brown pouch sitting on the table. 

Right. Truthfully, she had completely forgotten about the payment. Amreen eyed the client silently, feeling his eyes glaring her down. She swallowed hard, grabbed the pouch from the table and turned for the exit. 

“The Beskar belongs back into the hands of a Mandalorian. It is good to restore the natural order of things after a period of such disarray, don’t you agree?” 

They both stopped in front of the open door. Amreen barely turned her head to look at Din. The tension in his shoulders had returned. The words had struck a chord in him. She took a gentle hold of his wrist, letting go when he gave her the briefest look. Then, she led them out of the building. 

“I’ll meet you back at the ship.” Amreen started off from Din, not wanting to give him the chance to question what had happened to her back there. He didn’t object or try to stop her, which was a relief. It was a small moment of weakness on her part. She was better than that and she promised herself that it would never happen again. First stop, the marketplace to stock on more necessities. The transaction was quick, Tarin always had what she needed ready to go. Perks of being a regular. 

With the purchase in hand, Amreen made the short trek back to the Razor Crest. After depositing the items in their place, she rummaged through the tool pouch and went to work on the damaged landing strut. It wasn’t as bad as she had originally thought. It was a matter of replacing the screws and realigning the arms. The work was easy which didn’t make her happy. She had hoped it would preoccupy her mind rather than the guilt that was currently eating away at her. Ever since leaving home, she had done a great job of avoiding Empire remnants. Now, she was going to perform a job for them. She has stooped low. Granted, becoming a bounty hunter was low enough. But this was different. If she had known they were Empire, she would’ve tried to convince Din to not take the job. 

“It’s too late now,” she whispered to herself. Besides a job was a job, the payment was what mattered. It’s how she has been able to survive in this mess of a world. That was her justification for going along with it. 

Amreen finished up the repairs, gathered the tools and retreated onto the ship. She wiped the tools clean before putting them away. The brown pouch was sitting on one of the containers where she had left it upon returning to the ship. She allowed herself to check over the credits, a little surprised at how much they had given. And this was just the down payment. Her stomach twisted at what the full payment would be. 

_It’s money from the Empire’s pocket,_ she paused and huffed out a sigh. A job was a job, regardless of who the client was. It’s what she signed up for when she became a bounty hunter. _Stop overthinking it._

Footsteps came up the ramp behind her. She turned, giving Din a quick smile though she was quick to notice the shiny new pauldron. “That’s nice,” she pointed at his shoulder. “Made with the Beskar he gave you?” 

Din nodded.

“Good. Well, I fixed the damage done on the landing strut, it wasn’t too bad actually.” She nervously messed with the pouch in her hand “I stocked up on some supplies so we’ll be good for a few runs.” 

“Good.” Din remained still, his visor staring her down which was starting to annoy her. “What happened back there... with the client?” 

“Nothing.” Perhaps the most unconvincing answer she could’ve given him. She saw him tilt his head to the side and she threw her head back wich was followed by a sigh. “We were in a room full of Empire remnants, excuse me for being a little on edge.” She tied the pouch closed, the feeling of his eyes on her was ever-present. “And Greef didn’t think to share that little detail with us.” 

“He probably did us a favor by not saying anything.” 

Right. She highly doubted it was him doing them a favor.

“There’s something else, that can’t be the only reason why,” Din said slowly. 

“Can we please talk about this later?” They had a job to do and she’d rather get it done quickly. She turned to the latter but paused to look back at him. “In fact, how about we never talk about it again because it’s not a big deal, okay?”

Din merely regarded her for a moment but shrugged in compliance. He brushed past her and started up the ladder but not until he muttered one word. “Fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So!! What did you all think of that finale!!! I know it was two weeks ago and I meant to get this up soon but it didn't happen!! I have plans though!!! Let me know what you thought!


	3. The Fight For A Fifty-Year-Old Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for how long this chapter took. Work became absolute hell the past month and I barely had time to write this out quickly.

Arvala-7. Nothing but a desert wasteland. Didn’t offer much. Except for the occasional obstacle. Amreen discovered that fairly quickly after stepping foot on the planet’s terrain. One minute she was scouting the area, the next moment she was falling down a cliffside, hitting her head in the process. 

When she opened her eyes, there was a massive form standing over her. She blinked, her vision gradually cleared. It wasn’t just any form standing over it. It was a blurg with its mouth open and eyes staring at her rather intently. A blurg is the reason why her head hurt, it was the reason her arm was throbbing. And it was looking right at her. 

She panicked. Amreen turned onto her side, the action caused a harsh ache to form at the back of her head. It made her come to a complete halt. _Fuck._

_“She’s awake.”_ A rough voice called out. It wasn’t Din’s… then who the hell was it? Shit, was it raiders? She had to get out of here. 

The sounding of impending footsteps put her on edge. She attempted to crawl away from the scene when a hand found its way to her back. She flinched and groaned in protest, trying to swipe at the individual’s hand.

“It’s me.” Din’s voice brought immediate comfort. She stopped moving and her body visibly relaxed. “You’re okay.” He assured her, his hand moved up her back resting at the base of her neck. “Can you sit up?” 

The only response he got was a weak groan. Din took hold of her arm and guided her as she pushed herself up. It was then he got a good look at the blood trailing down her forehead. She seemed to notice it as well, given the annoying sting she felt. Amreen reached up, then pulled away, her eyes widened upon seeing the blood coating her fingers. “Oh, that’s nice.” 

“It doesn’t look too serious, won’t know until we get it cleaned up.” 

“You will follow me to my farm,” 

Amreen glanced over, finally able to see an Ugnaught sitting on top of the blurg, his face stern but nothing about him screamed hostile. Her brow creased, she didn’t remember seeing him on top of the blurg.

“He helped with the Blurg,” Din answered upon seeing the confused look on her face. Sometimes she was glad that he knew how to read what she was thinking. 

Amreen nodded, tiredly. “Thank you.” 

The Ugnaught gave a single nod. “It is not far from here. We will be able to properly attend to you.” 

“Okay,” she breathed out, still a little confused about everything that took place only a few minutes ago. Amreen glanced down and noticed that Din’s left vambrace was fairly damaged. She hummed to herself as she picked up his left arm. “Blurg?” 

Din gave a half nod in response. He pointed to her right arm remembering that a Blurg had caught her as well. He watched her try to raise her right arm, pausing halfway and hissing loudly. “That’s what I thought.” 

“It could be worse,” she replied, despondently. “It could’ve gotten broken...given their huge mouths.” She threw a glare in the direction of the mounted blurg. 

The Ugnaught sauntered over to the pair, handing over a piece of cloth to Amreen. “You can use this to keep the wound clean.” 

She gratefully took the cloth and pressed it to the cut on her hairline, “Thank you.” 

The Ugnaught ushered for the two of them to follow. “We should go now. I’d like to reach the farm before sunset.” 

A laugh got caught in her throat. She had definitely never met someone like him before. Regardless, he was right. None of them wanted to be caught traveling in the middle of the night. With Din’s help, Amreen got back on her feet and found herself hoping that the trip wouldn’t be long after all. 

* * *

Amreen’s head was still fuzzy by the time they reached the Ugnaught’s vapor farm. Inside the hut, Din had helped her onto a stool that the Ugnaught had pointed to. Amreen pulled the cloth away from her hairline, cringing at the red-tinted fabric. 

“I may have enough bacta to use for your wounds.” The Ugnaught said to the pair as he started to rummage through his storage. He paused, picked up another rag and dampened it. He handed it over to Din. “Clean the wounds first.” 

“It really isn’t that bad.” Amreen countered back, pressing the cloth back to her hairline.

“Humor me,” Din responded. “For all we know, you may have a concussion.” He gently pulled her hand away from her hairline and went about cleaning the wound. 

“Concussion.” She scoffed, hissing at the annoying sting. “This annoying cut seems to be the only damage” 

“Better safe than sorry,” Din took hold of her chin between his fingers. “Stop moving.” His fingers remained in place and it took him a moment to catch himself. He was quick to remove his hand. He was so focused on the task at hand, he didn’t notice the brief look of disappointment that crossed her features

She hadn’t realized that she was moving so much. But she obeyed. Vouching to sit in silence as Din continued to work. She stared up at his visor, thinking about what he must look like right now. She imagined that his brows were creased with concentration, or maybe his face was completely calm. She wouldn’t know… she would never know. She felt sick to her stomach when that thought made its presence known. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind in so long. It confused her. She made peace early on in their partnership with the Creed that he followed. She was easily accepting of it. Then, why did it feel different this time? To abate that feeling, her eyes downcast hoping to keep herself focused on something else. 

Din pulled away, surveying the work he had done. The bleeding had stopped. The wound was as clean as it was going to get. “Your arm,” he pointed to the injured limb.

Amreen pulled off her outer jacket and pulled up the shirt sleeve of her left arm. She grimaced at the small, circular puncture wounds decorating the better part of her forearm. Dried blood was streaked across her skin and it looked quite appalling. The fact that a Blurg had her arm in its mouth was terrifying enough. She really is lucky her damn arm wasn’t chewed off. 

Din never said anything when he turned to her arm. He took hold of her wrist and began to clean, wincing under the helmet when he heard her hiss at the contact. He made sure to take extra care with how he cleaned her arm. She was quite lucky that the bleeding wasn’t worse. _He_ was relieved that it wasn’t worse. 

“There is enough bacta here to help with your wounds,” The Ugnaught approached the pair and went to take his place in front of Amreen. Din got the message and quickly moved to give him space. 

She wanted to argue that it wasn’t necessary. The wounds were minor, she would be fine without the bacta. However, the Ugnaught seemed to have known what she was thinking. She received a stern look from him, telling her that she wasn’t to argue against the help. Instead, she pursed her lips into a thin line as he applied the substance to her hairline and arm. 

“You both seek the bounty that has taken refuge here,” he spoke, breaking the heavy silence that had permitted between the three of them. 

“Yes,” Din answered, keeping his focus on how the Ugnaught was handling Amreen. “You said that you would help us.” 

Amreen perked up at this, she then eyed the Ugnaught with mild trepidation. “That’s very kind of you.” 

He merely hummed at her words and stood up after finishing with the bacta. He sauntered over to the compartment to put away the supplies then turned to the stove. “Many have traveled across this terrain looking for what you seek.” 

“And you helped them all?” Din asked, taking a seat next to Amreen at the silent insistence of their host. 

“Yes,” he pulled out a few cups and a pitcher, his hands twitched as the next words fell from his mouth. “They all died.” 

“They _all_ died?” Amreen asked and received a low hum as a response. She looked over at Din, mouthing the word _“What,”_ that was a rather unsettling detail to hear from someone who offered to help them. 

“Then I’m not sure we want your help.”

“You do.” The Ugnaught turned to the table, setting down the cups and pitcher. “You both need it.” 

This guy was rather persistent. She had to respect that. 

“What’s your cut?”

“Half.” 

Din hesitated. “Half the bounty to guide? That seems pretty steep.” 

“No, half of the blurg you both help capture.” 

“The blurg, you can keep them.” 

“No, the way is nearly impossible on foot. You will need a blurg to cross the terrain.” The Ugnaught filled the three cups, dispersing two of them to Amreen and Din. 

Din nodded his thanks, then said, “We don’t know how to ride blurg.” 

“I have spoken.” 

And with those three words, the conversation had reached its end. Amreen threw Din a long glance as she reached for her cup. She raised it up in a mock toast, “Looks like we don’t have much of a choice.” 

That answer satisfied the Ugnaught. “You two will rest here for the night, in the morning you will learn to ride the Blurg.” 

* * *

Amreen awoke the next morning with a throbbing ache behind her eyes. She didn’t get much sleep during the night. Sitting up, she noticed that Din was sitting up against the wall a few feet from her, his head leaned back as if he was asleep. “Lucky bastard,” she murmured to herself as she stood up from her make-shift bed. After taking a quick sweep of the hut, she noticed that the Ugnaught was not lying on his cot. Tugging her jacket closer to her body, she quietly made her way out of the hut, making sure to not wake Din. She’s seen his unnatural sleep cycle and preferred for him to get at least one decent night of sleep. 

Stepping outside, the air was still chilly but the sun was already starting to rise. A soft warm glow was cast over the desolate landscape. She took a moment to relish in watching the sunrise. A rarity she never gave much thought to. Most of their time was spent living and sleeping on the Razor Crest. She didn’t mind it much. It was the same lifestyle she lived while being on her own before she met Din. But this was a rare treat for her. 

“You’re up earlier than I anticipated.” 

Amreen’s attention was brought over to the Ugnaught carrying on with his morning chores. This morning called for the first feeding for the Blurg they captured the day prior. “Couldn’t get much sleep last night,” she admitted while carefully strolling up to join him. 

He placed down the bucket in his hands and gestured at her, “And your injuries?” 

Amreen barely lifted her one arm and was pleased when there was no pain in the endeavor. “Much better, thank you for helping us.” 

The Ugnaught gave a nonchalant wave of the hand, “You both are my guests,” he poured out a bucket of what Amreen could only assume was food for the beasts. It looked more like a bucket of slime. 

Amreen cringed, the smell of it finally reached her nose. “May I ask you something?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why are you helping us? Especially when you ask for no reward in return.” 

The Ugnaught remained silent, placed the bucket down and gazed out at the horizon. “The one you both seek, it has brought many to this planet. And with them they bring violence. The ones who live here--they come here to live in peace. I do not help in the hopes of being rewarded. I am doing it to restore peace to these lands.” 

His words were rather poignant. Amreen felt guilty. She was rather skeptical of his intentions. Any deal that she has struck with other individuals always had a price. It was part of the job--part of this life. But this one Ugnaught effectively derailed all of her expectations. “I’m sorry,” she followed his gaze to the horizon. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with the violence.” 

“If you two are successful in your mission, then all will be well.” 

She glanced down at the Ugnaught, the look of utmost fate in his eyes was enough to render her speechless. The only thing she could do was nod. “Is it alright if I ask for your name?” 

“Kuiil.” 

“Kuiil,” Amreen repeated the name and then smiled. “Amreen.”

Kuiil bowed his head then reached his hand out to her. She reached out with her own, their hands entwining in a firm shake. Their hands dropped to their sides, Kuiil looked back at the hut in time to see Din emerge. “Good, now we can start the lesson.” 

Amreen turned to Din as he approached her. She raised her eyebrows, “Good morning,” she smiled upon receiving no response. “Did you sleep well?”

“Why didn’t you wake me?” 

She shrugged. “You hardly have a schedule, I thought you could use the extra sleep.” A quiet sigh emitted from the Mandalorian. She eyed him, her smile growing, “You’re welcome.” 

….

Teaching the bounty duo how to ride blurg wasn’t difficult per se. It did require the utmost patience. Din was the first to volunteer. Amreen stood alongside Kuiil as they watched Din attempt to tame one of the blurg. She took notes on everything he did wrong. That way she wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes. No matter how many times he tried, Din would only get thrown off the beast’s back. 

Din was getting impatient (they really didn’t have the time to be doing this) and so was Kuiil, though the latter was quite good at hiding it. He got Din motivated enough to try one more time and, to everyone’s relief, it was successful. Amreen was rather amused by the sight of it all. In her three years of traveling with Din, they had never found themselves in a situation like this. Being taught how to ride blurg was something she never dreamed up would happen. She couldn’t help the amused smile that appeared. It was rather safe to say that she was pretty confident when her turn came around. 

The Ugnaught switched out the blurg. Amreen took a moment to settle herself. “This should be easy,” She stepped through the wired fence into the pen that housed the blurg. “I just have to approach it the exact opposite of how you initially approached it.” 

Din said nothing as she passed him. He stepped out of the pen and leaned his arm against the post, eagerly watching to see how this would all turn out. Amreen was calm with her approach, making sure not to make any sudden movements. The animal seemed fine and she took that as her cue. She hoisted herself onto the Blurg’s back and within seconds was thrown off. He winced under the helmet when her body fell to the ground. Still, that didn’t stop the smug grin that came soon after. Good thing he had on the helmet. “It was going to be easy, right?” 

Amreen huffed out a breath as she sat up, then glared at the helmet staring back at her. She could just imagine the look on his face. Amreen blew a piece of hair out of her face and stumbled to her feet. She faced the Blurg, took in a breath and tried again. 

It turned into a back aching repetition. Climb onto the beast’s back and be thrown off again. It continued. Over and over again. At one point, a distinct pop from her shoulder caused her to panic. She thought she had dislocated her shoulder. A quick assessment assured her that it was fine. But she was tired and bruised up from being thrown around. She wanted to throw in the flag, call it a day and find another way to cross the terrain. But Kuiil only encouraged her to try one more time. She felt that it was a waste of time but the Ugnaught was rather insistent. Amreen felt she had no choice but to take his word for it. 

She tried again for what felt like the hundredth try. Fully expecting it to go horribly wrong and was ready to give in after that. _Last try._ When the beast was calm enough, Amreen pressed her hand against the bridge of its nose, giving a gentle rub. “It’s okay,” she spoke softly, the animal continued to be calm which was a promising sign. However, it tricked her the first go-round. “You going to let me on and not throw me off this time?” 

The animal let out a grunt. _Is that your way of answering me?_ Amreen pressed her lips into a thin line, she grabbed onto the makeshift harness then hoisted herself onto its back. The Blurg started to act up, trying to shake her off its back. Amreen tightened the grip on the harness and leaned forward, her one hand going to rest against the beast’s head. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Be calm.” She wasn’t sure if talking to it would make the process any easier. It was more of an instinct than anything. But it worked. She grinned in surprise when the Blurg finally settled. “Okay,” she leaned up, still giving the animal gentle pats. “Let’s try a lap around the pen.” She gently kicked her heels into the animal’s side and the Blurg took her for a quick round in the pen. 

Kuiil nodded approvingly, “Now, we can set out on the trip.” 

Amreen glanced over at Din, her hand going to give the Blurg a few more pats. “See, easy.” 

“Right.” Din stared at her for a moment, “How’s the shoulder?” 

“Not dislocated,” she rolled her shoulder a few times, it was a little stiff but nothing too serious. She dismounted the Blurg and exited the pen. “I should be able to finish this without a problem.”

Din removed his arm from the wooden post and turned to walk away, Amreen was quick to follow his stride, “Then we best get ready.” 

* * *

Kuiil had been right. The terrain was too hazardous for them to have attempted on foot. It would have taken them twice as long to reach the asset without the Blurg. Amreen considered Kuiil’s involvement to be a blessing in disguise. The end of their trek brought them to a ridge that overlooked a few communal buildings. It didn’t look like much, granted if someone wanted to hide somewhere this place was perfect for it. 

“This is where you will find your bounty,” Kuiil pointed towards the structures. “I told your friend,” he gave a quick gesture to Amreen. “Those who seek this asset have only brought violence in the hopes of seeking reward.”

“Then why did you help us?” Din asked. 

“All who live here have longed for peace. And I wish to restore that peace.” Kuiil gave Din a long stare, then nodded. “I have never met a Mandalorian, other than what I’ve read. But if it all is true then you both shall have no trouble.” 

Din reached into his beltline and pulled out a pouch of credits, a payment he had portioned out while Kuiil and Amreen slept during the night. He handed the pouch over to Kuiil who only shook his head. “Please, take it.” 

“I do not do this for payment. The restoration will be payment enough.” Kuiil gave them a single nod and steered his Blurg around. “I have spoken.” 

Din and Amreen dismounted their rides to allow Kuiil to take them back to his farm. They had discussed an alternate route that would take them back to the Razor Crest. A route they wouldn’t need the blurg for. They took stock of their weapons, ensuring they had everything they needed. 

Amreen approached the Ugnaught and held a hand out to him, he took it into his own giving a small shake. “Thank you, Kuiil. For Everything.” 

Kuiil regarded her, then glanced up at Din who gave his own nod of thanks. He gave them one last salute before starting the trek back towards his farm. 

Din and Amreen took their place at the cliff’s edge. They had a clear overlook of the entire complex. Amreen already scouted out a few guardsmen gathered at the center of the complex. “I’m counting six targets guarding the main entrance… who knows how many are inside.” 

Din flipped on the thermal scan on his helmet, immediately detecting multiple sources inside the complex. It was difficult to count how many targets were holed up inside. “I’m getting multiple heat signatures but I’m not able to confirm the exact amount.” 

“I don’t think this is going to be that easy,” Amreen said as she pulled her hair back into a simple bun. “The previous hunters all died, according to Kuiil. That means they’ve been here for a while,” she pointed at the guards, her eyes narrowing at how casual they were all being. “Which means they’re well guarded, armored up and are expecting people to shoot their way in. They know what they’re doing.” 

“You suggest a quiet way in?” 

Amreen tilted her head to the side, making a small noise of uncertainty. “We can try and take out the six guards here without alarming the rest. But that may be tricky.” 

“We’ve handled worse.” 

Amreen scoffed and turned to look at him, “More like we barely scraped by with those jobs.” She heard Din hum next to her. “They’re all clustered together, taking them out quietly would be impossible.”

“Distraction.” 

“A distraction that won’t put them all on high alert and get word back to the others?” 

Din paused and then returned to scouting out the targets. Amreen went quiet, trying to formulate a plan that would be the most effective. One that wouldn’t garner too much attention from the other guards. If they could break up the group evenly, that would leave three to one. Manageable. Her attention soon focused on a figure approaching the six guards. She turned her head and her eyes widened upon realizing what it was. “Shit, we got company.” 

Din’s focus moved onto the IG unit that was approaching the guards. _Oh, great._ They watched in silence as the IG unit attempted to get the guards to cooperate. But they tried to shoot the IG unit, no surprise there. The unit was quick to disarm and kill three of them. The others managed to retreat into the compound., an ear-piercing siren filled the air. Amreen slowly careened her head to the side until she was staring at Din. 

He let out a sigh, his helmet tilted down. “Droids.” He reached for his rifle and slowly passed it over to her. “Here’s the plan, you stake out here, use the rifle to take out targets.” He placed down a clip of ammo. “Make every shot count.”

Amreen gave a single nod. “Got it.” She took the rifle and began to set up her position. “You sure you can handle that droid down there?” There was a light humorous tone to her voice but Din saw the concern etched in her features. She knew about his dislike for droids. She was ready to offer to be the one to go down there and handle it.

Din gave a shake of the head, “Just keep an eye out.” 

“I got you.” 

Din stood and started off down the cliffside. 

Amreen leaned onto her side, checking over the rifle, making sure that the rounds were within reach for fast-acting. She loaded in one round and parched the rifle close to the edge. Leaning back onto her stomach, she used the scope to watch as Din interacted with the IG unit. She could feel her heart pounding within her chest. The rifle primed on the unit’s form, her finger resting loosely against the trigger. 

The IG unit suddenly turned its head and looked up at her. Her body froze. But when the IG didn’t shoot at her, she raised two fingers and saluted the droid. _“She’s with me.”_ Amreen could hear Din’s voice travel up the cliff’s wall. She breathed a sigh of relief when the droid turned its gaze away from her. 

A shot rang out, hitting the droid in the back. Amreen swiveled the rifle to the right, the culprit was caught in her crosshairs and she pulled the trigger. The blast hit the individual, immediately vaporizing him. The entire compound came to life. Multiple doors began to open and a swarm of guardsmen stormed out of the compound, blasters drawn and primed on Din’s location. 

“Shit.” Amreen loaded in another round and picked her next target. She followed the target until he took refuge behind a pillar. Right in the crosshairs and she pulled the trigger. Again, she reached for another round, placed it in and picked up another target. The trigger is pulled. Another individual vaporized. She glanced down at what was left of the rounds, cursing to herself again. The rounds needed to be conserved. _Use them sparingly._ She could hear Din’s voice admonishing her the first time she used the rifle. Amreen rolled her eyes and popped in another round. This time she found Din and followed his position, noticing one of the guards aiming a blaster at him. She took the moment to aim the rifle properly and was about to pull the trigger when a blaster bolt hit the ground right next to her.

Amreen turned onto her back and saw four men running after her. She pulled out her blaster and shot at the men who were quick enough to take cover behind some boulders. Amreen peered over the cliff, seeing that there was enough of a hillside that she could use to slide down. She shot off a few more blasts in the direction of her assailants to keep them at bay, grabbed hold of the rifle and ammo clip, then pushed herself over the cliffside. 

She slid down the embankment then pushed off, her landing was messy but kept her balance. She slid the rifle around her shoulder and ducked to avoid being hit. Amreen kept low as she took cover behind a pillar. The four men that had found her were making their way back down the ridge and heading right towards her. She pulled out her blaster, only to pause when the four men were hit with blasts, their bodies tumbling down the ridge. “What--” she peered around the pillar, seeing that the IG unit had taken care of them. 

Amreen blew out a breath then, through all the chaos, she looked for Din. Dust that had been stirred up in the fight made it difficult to see. But she continued to search for him. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the familiar glint of his helmet. He was getting close to the main door. Good. She turned around to find a route that would get her to him when she saw a figure hurtling towards her. On instinct, she ducked down, cringing at the sound of something colliding with the pillar. She spun away from the assailant and pulled the rifle off her shoulder, just in time to block a hit from her attacker. She kicked at their knee and cut a hit across their head with the rifle. The body fell to the ground. 

Swinging the rifle back around her shoulder, she pulled out her blaster and continued on to find Din. Bodies were dropping at an alarming rate. Some were falling off rooftops, one nearly falling on top of her. She had to admit, the IG was a rather effective weapon. Given the number of targets they were encountering, perhaps it was good to have it on their side. Even though the IG unit completely threw out the possibility of a stealth plan. 

Amreen went to take cover behind another pillar, dodging several blaster bolts along the way. A hand grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her behind the pillar. She whipped her head around and was staring right into the visor of Din’s helmet. 

“You were supposed to be staking out on the ridge!” He yelled above the sounds of blaster shots. 

“Yeah,” she flinched when a chunk of the pillar flew off, inching closer to Din to avoid getting hit by it. “I got compromised!” 

“The asset is right through there.” Din pointed at the heavy metal door in front of them. 

The shooting ceased. An eerie silence fell over the scene. 

Amreen could feel her body tense, voices were calling out in the background. She spared a brief look from around the pillar. More assailants were taking positions around the compound. _Where the hell are they all coming from?_ Regardless, they were now surrounded. 

“It appears that we are trapped.” 

Amreen rolled her eyes at the droid’s casual observation.

“I will initiate self-destruct sequencing.” 

Din and Amreen paused, both careening their heads to look over at the droid. “Your what?” They both asked. 

“Manufacturer’s protocol dictates I can not be captured.” 

“Whoah, wait a minute,” Amreen held a hand up at the droid. “You can’t just self-destruct, the asset is right through those doors, we just need to come up with a plan.” 

“I have a new plan,” Din stashed his blaster back into its holster. “Cover me.” 

As Din attempted to unlock the door through the wiring system, Amreen worked with the IG unit to keep the attention on them, hoping to give Din enough time to open the door. For every guard that was taken out, more would appear. And they were slowly closing in on the group. Amreen eyed the group and saw the guards starting to close their aim in on Din. She ran towards Din and grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him away from the door just as several bolts whizzed past their heads, hitting the wiring box. She pressed them up against the pillar with the IG unit. 

The shots were now being concentrated on their position, bits of concrete flew in every direction. Amreen raised an arm up to shield her eyes from the debris. 

“There’s too many of them.” 

Amreen pressed a hand to her beltline, silently cursing at herself for not bringing any of her grenades. The one time she chose to leave them on the Crest, they run into this kind of trouble. 

“I will initiate a self-destruct sequence.” 

“No. Stop.” 

Amreen carefully peered her head out from the pillar, far enough to get a view of what was happening. Her eyes focused on the laser cannon that was aimed directly at her. 

“Do not self-destruct,” she heard Din tell the IG unit. “We’re shooting our way out!” 

The laser cannon was primed, one of the guards was helmed at the trigger. Amreen leaned back behind the pillar, “No we aren’t!” She threw her arm out, preventing Din from blowing his cover and pushed him back. 

A blast barely missed Din as she pushed him back against the pillar. Bolts pierced the concrete. Amreen could almost feel the pillar shaking from the force of the laser cannon. This pillar wasn’t going to hold up forever. _Was this asset even worth it?_ They were currently pinned down with no safe way out. And with that laser cannon, shooting their way out was almost impossible. “New plan?” 

Din pressed his helmet against the pillar, his grip on the blaster tightened. The best course of action is to take out the one helming the laser cannon then the rest of them. “Draw their attention, I’ll take out the cannon.” 

The IG unit ran out from cover, drawing all the fire towards it. Amreen perched herself towards the edge of the pillar, the droid didn’t get far before it fell from getting hit. She sucked in a breath then ducked out from the pillar. Amreen barely missed a barrage of bolts as she took cover behind some form of structure. She attempted to get an aim on the guard manning the laser cannon but never found a safe opening. She pressed her back against the structure, flinching at every shot that misses her. 

Amreen glanced over at the droid, it was still leaned up against the wall of one of the buildings taking hits. _Shit,_ she held her blaster close to her chest. _Any time would be great, Mando._

The cannon’s aim shifted. Amreen blinked and poked her head up enough to see that Din was now helming the laser cannon. He cut through the remaining guards with great ease. When the shooting finally ceased, Amreen raised to her feet and surveyed the compound. Bodies littered the ground, smoke and dust swirled into the sky. 

“I will now disengage self-destruct initiative.” 

Din quietly approached the droid with his hand out towards it. “You know, you’re not so bad… for a droid.” Din helped the droid up to its feet. “That blaster hit looks nasty, you okay?” 

“Running diagnostics.” 

Amreen approached the pair, eyeing the droid silently. 

“It has missed my central wiring harness.” 

“Well, that sounds promising.” Amreen took a quick look at the blaster hit on the droid’s center body. It sparked and she could see some of the wiring hanging from the opening. “Got to admit, you made getting through these guys a lot easier.” 

“Agreed.” The droid answered. 

She huffed out a breath, then eyed the damage again, nodding towards it, “If you want, I can take a look at that later.” 

“That would be acceptable.” 

“Now, we just gotta figure out a way through those doors.” Din pointed at the metal doors ahead of them. One of the men had shot at the wiring box, making it impossible to rewire the locking mechanism. Then, the thought came to all three of them. They turned to look at the perfectly good laser cannon lying dormant. 

Amreen snapped her head around to look at Din, her eyes wide and a small smile on her face. “My turn to use it.” There was no questioning in her voice. Just a declaration.

Regardless, Din answered with a casual nod. 

It was a little intimidating. Amreen had never helmed a weapon of that size. She had to take a moment to familiarize herself with the weapon’s layout. But it was all rather simple. Aim and pull the trigger. A rather simple way of looking at it. Amreen maneuvered the weapon until it was aimed at the metal door, then pulled the trigger. The kickback was more than she anticipated but she kept the pressure down on the trigger, shooting an outline around the metal door. She wondered if they could hear her excited laugh. When reaching the other end, she took her finger off the trigger and hopped off the cannon. 

Amreen took a moment to admire the weapon. She blew out a breath and wiped her hands against her legs. “Would love to have that on the Crest.” 

They approached the metal doors, Din used his foot to kick down the weakened door. The solid chunk of metal fell to the ground with a harsh thud. The room was dimly lit and silent. Amreen’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the lighting. She stepped inside, the tracking fob hooked to Din’s beltline was still going off. _Good, the asset was still here then._ Din took the fob and held it out, he scanned the room, the fob started behaving more erratic. He paused and glanced up at what looked to be some kind of compartment. The asset was in a small, spherical compartment? A rather peculiar place to find one. Especially one that was fifty years old. 

Upon approaching the compartment, Din casts a brief glance at Amreen before pressing one of the control buttons. Half of the compartment slid open, it wasn’t just a compartment…it was a cradle of sorts. And inside was a… _wait._ Amreen inched closer, the first thing that caught her eye was two large green ears. A tiny clawed hand pushed down the blanket revealing two large eyes staring back at her. “What the--”

“Wait,” Din finally noticed. “They said fifty years old.” 

“Some species age differently,”

Amreen felt her head tilt to the side. The asset--no, the _child_ \--followed in suit by tilting his head at her. A tiny coo fell past its lips. It was all for this… for an actual child.

“Perhaps this child could live for centuries, unfortunately, we will never know.” 

The finality in the droid’s voice sparked every trigger warning in Amreen’s mind. She snapped her head up and saw the droid raise its blaster. Her hand raised up towards it and she stood between the child and the droid, “Whoah, wait a minute, you can’t shoot it.” 

“Why not?” 

Her eyes widened at the nonchalant question. “Because it’s a child.” 

“It’s an asset,” The droid counteracted. “The commission was quite clear, the asset was to be terminated.”

Amreen didn’t know why she was so stunned by its words. It was a droid. They weren’t exactly designed to showcase emotions and morals. Still, it didn’t do anything to melt the icy pit that formed in her stomach. “Our commission said we could bring it in alive, that’s what we’re doing.” 

“I must ask you to step aside.” The droid never lowered the blaster which was now aimed right at her. “The asset will be terminated.” 

Amreen stood her ground, staring down the barrel of the blaster. She has done questionable things in her tenure as a bounty hunter. Things she has come to regret but it came with the life she lived. But she never did anything that would harm a child. And there was no feasible way that she was going to let this droid murder a child. Asset or not. 

Din moved back, with Amreen keeping the droid’s focus, it didn’t see Din aiming his blaster at its head. He pulled the trigger, blasting a hole right through the droid’s head. The body of metal fell to the ground. 

Only then did she let out a breath. There was a small touch on her hand. She jumped and turned to face the cradle, the child had grasped for her hand in an effort to seek some form of comfort. She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable with the touch, and carefully pulled her hand from its grasp. She was never really great around kids. 

The child stared up at the duo, its big eyes radiating something they couldn’t quite piece together. It didn’t look scared or upset by what just happened. It cooed and reached up a hand towards them. Din humored the child and stuck out a finger to the kid, it grasped onto his finger and made a small noise. 

Amreen didn’t notice the smile that had appeared on her face. Definitely a sight she never thought she would see. But a nagging thought was currently poking at her mind. _What does empire remnants want with a child?_ But she stopped herself. Don’t think about it. She was there to do a job: obtain the asset and deliver it to the commission. Simple. She blew out a breath and looked around the room. “We should get going.” She removed the rifle from her shoulder and handed it over to Din. 

He retracted his hand and silently took the rifle from her. After messing with his vambrace, Din took a few steps back and the cradle followed him. He slung the rifle around his shoulder, shrugging his shoulder and turned for the exit, “Okay, let’s go.”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, so the duo finally got to baby yoda!!! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Also, I do have a Tumblr and I like to post edits for this story on there sometimes. But feel free to come say hi if you want!!


	4. Two Hunters And A Baby

The incessant beeping of a tracking fob reverberated throughout the small canyon. 

Amreen stared down at the body strewn out before her. She pushed her hair back and turned to look over at Din. He was standing among three other bodies, his chest slowly rising and falling. Amreen looked down at her hand and paused at the red stain on her skin. She cringed and allowed her arm to hang down by her side. 

The beeping continued. The fob in question was attached to the belt of a hunter that Din disintegrated with the rifle. And the belt was lying near the pram several feet away from them. 

The child was nestled inside its pram, merely staring at them with its ears down. Neither were sure if the kid understood what had just occurred and why. The hunters they just fought were tracking the kid which meant that they were hired by the same client. Suddenly, Amreen felt a wave of annoyance wash over her. And he didn’t feel the need to tell them about the others? Of course, he wouldn’t. 

Amreen stashed her blaster into her thigh holster and went to pick up the fob. The beeping continued, the red light flashing--almost like it was intimidating her. She picked up the fob and stared down at it.  _ More will be coming.  _ A voice in the back of her head spoke to her.  _ Leave now.  _

A small noise emitted from the child, she glanced over at the kid, a bit taken back from the look she saw in its eyes. A look that couldn’t decipher. Pulling her gaze from the kid, she dropped the fob to the ground, “We should leave.” She said before bringing her foot down and smashing the fob into pieces. 

They carried on until the sun started to dip behind the horizon, they had made good progress in their trek. Din suggested that they set up camp for the night, allow them to get some form of rest after the day they’ve had. Amreen’s sore body screamed in agreement. Not to mention, Din had an annoying gash on his left arm that needed to be taken care of. Amreen took notice of the injury and motioned for him to sit down. She rummaged through their bags until she found the cauterizer and some gauze. Din insisted that he could take care of the injury himself but his hand was pushed away by Amreen. 

“Just sit back and don’t move.” As she brought a piece of the gauze, Amreen couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory that fluttered back. The day she first met Din, when she saved his ass on a bounty and the wound that came as a result. She could barely stand on her leg, prompting Din to carry her onto his ship.

_ “Try not to move.”  _ He had instructed her.

“What?” 

Din’s question broke her trance and she slowly shook her head, a little embarrassed that he had caught her laugh. “This remind you of a particular event?” She pressed the gauze to the injury, her eyes moving up to look at him. 

His helmet tilted down as he watched her work. But she heard him huff out a breath and his helmet moved up and down. “I’ll try not to pass out.” 

_ Cheeky asshole _ . Amreen smirked before applying more pressure to the gash, breathing out an apology when Din hissed at the contact. “Maybe it would be best, then you wouldn’t be in any pain.” 

Din choked on a groan, she wasn’t sure if he was trying to laugh or if it was just a cough. “That leg wound was worse than this.” 

She hummed. “Yeah and I got the scar to prove it.” She pulled the gauze away and picked up the cauterizer. That made Din freeze, he swallowed hard at the thought. He remembered how the injury looked while he was treating it. After the first patch up, Amreen took over with keeping the injury clean. Now, he could only imagine what kind of scar it left behind. 

While doing a quick glance over on the instrument, Amreen looked over at the kid who was still in its pram, quietly watching her with those big eyes. She still didn’t know what to make of it. What was so important about this little guy that warranted commissions? 

The kid tilted its head, seeming quite curious, and then cooed. 

She could only hum to herself. Amreen returned her focus on Din and situated herself to see the injury properly. She switched on the cauterizer and rested her free hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move.” Her voice was calm and quiet. 

Din nodded, his helmet moving to face forward, and braced himself but couldn’t stop the quick cry of pain when the cauterizer made contact with the open wound. But under the helmet he could feel his lips curl into a grin. This was a lot like that night on the Crest. His helmet turned to face her and he watched as she worked diligently on sealing up the cut. He tried to not focus on the pain. He tried to keep himself calm but wasn’t able to keep quiet for too long.

Amreen pressed her lips into a thin line, it was a little difficult concentrating on her work when Din’s painfilled cries filtered through her ears. She paused almost halfway into the procedure and gently squeezed his arm, telling him to take a moment to breathe. Now she understood how he must have felt that night. Though, he was right. This arm gash was nothing compared to what she had received on that bounty hunt. She gave his arm another squeeze, angling her head down to look right into his visor. “You good?” 

His chest was heaving with short, stagnant breaths. He was staring right at her, a look of worry adorned her face, one that he only sees if he acquires some kind of injury. After traveling alone for most of his life, it took a bit for him to grow used to another presence on the Crest. But there were always pros to having another person to travel with. And he understood this not long into their partnership. It was nice to have someone to work with, someone who would always have his back. And the concern was always nice to see, such as moments like this. 

Din gave her a weak nod to continue. 

Amreen settled back into position, wiped the gash with the cloth one more time, then proceeded with the cauterizer. The groans and cries didn’t stop, she didn’t expect them to. But she could hear Din making more of a conscious effort to subdue them. She appreciated the thought and gave him another reassuring squeeze. She’s encountered worse injuries than this, screams and sights that will never leave her mind. This was nothing. 

Within time, she was over halfway done with the treatment. She had been so engrossed with the simple procedure, she didn’t notice the small form that was toddling towards her. Not until a small noise appeared next to her. Amreen startled and stared down at the kid who was walking towards them, one of its arms outstretched towards Din. The hunters could only stare in confusion at the child, neither knowing what to do. 

Amreen set the cauterizer down and gently picked the child up from under its arms, then carried it back over to the cradle. She situated the kid into the seat, again it only stared up at her and gave a small noise of protest. That made her brow furrow. Amreen pointed her finger at the kid, catching its attention. “Just stay there, don’t move.” 

The kid blinked. That seemed to be the only answer she would receive. 

She turned around and took her place next to Din, picked up the cauterizer, and proceeded with patching him up. “There,” Amreen said after a few more minutes. She switched off the cauterizer and picked up a fresh round of gauze. “All done.” She gently secured a good layer of gauze to the injury to keep it clean overnight. “You can take a breather now.” 

Din tried flexing his hand, the muscles in his arm twitched and ached. “Thank you.” 

She picked up the cauterizer and the used gauze, humming in response to his gratitude. As she went to stand up, a small noise appeared from behind her. Amreen turned to look and saw the kid was out of its pram, again. Again, the little tyke had an arm outstretched toward Din and was waddling towards him. “What the--” The little one was quite persistent, she gave them that. 

Din hoisted himself up to his feet and picked up the child. Copying what Amreen had done only minutes prior. He gently set the kid back down in its cradle, pausing as it merely stared up at him. All that trouble to pick up some kid. He recalled what Amreen had asked when they were leaving the compound,  _ Why the hell does the Empire want this kid for?  _ He tried not to dwell on the thought. They were on a job, no use in asking those questions. But it remained as an ever persistent nag in the back of his mind. 

Din pressed a button on his vambrace and the pram closed. The child was secured for the night. And tomorrow they will be back on Nevarro. Another successful job tucked under their belts.

* * *

Amreen stepped towards the skeletal remains of the Razor Crest. It was a rather sad and abysmal sight before her. Their only way off this planet and it’s been stripped down by Jawas. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Din step up next to her, the stumble in his walk was still evident. She eyed him worriedly, that fall from the crawling fortress was fast and hard. Her first thought was a possible broken back or even fractured ribs. He was out for a good amount of time and she didn’t want to risk moving him and aggravating any injuries she wasn’t aware of. 

Din finally came around, able to move around without extreme pain. That brought her a lot of relief. Still, it didn’t stop her from admonishing him.  _ “That was a really good idea, huh?”  _ Running after and attempting to infiltrate the Jawa’s fortress wasn’t how she imagined this day would start. But, of course, Din would be the one to act on a whim. She only followed to ensure that he didn’t get himself killed. She was somewhat successful. While he was definitely going to be sore for a few days, at least he was still alive. Now the problem they faced was not having a way off the planet. The Razor Crest was completely ransacked. Walking through the metal carcass was eerie. The little bastards took everything. Din attempted to get the engines going but with no luck. He didn’t think there would be. Amreen went to search through their compartments, eager to see if anything was left behind. But Jawas are incredibly thorough. There was no way they would leave behind anything. Amreen searched through one of the hidden compartments, breathing a sigh of relief when she found their down payment hadn’t been touched. 

Amreen blew out a breath and leaned against the wall of the ship’s hull. She dragged her hands down her face, glancing over as Din slid down the ladder. His shoulders tense and his movements a little stiff. When his helmet was focused in her direction, she merely tilted her head to the side, “Is your back acting up?” 

Din emitted a sigh, not answering her question. He stalked over to his cot and gently sat down. He tried masking over the groan that escaped but she caught onto it. Still, she said nothing about it. 

The two sat in silence for a moment, their options were limited. They could try to follow the tracks to find the Jawa’s camp. And then what? The Jawas took all of their weapons, they would be outgunned. Besides, their unsuccessful attempt earlier didn’t give her hope of winning a second round with them. 

“There’s one thing we can do,” she said. “We need to go find Kuiil.” She leaned away from the wall, pausing when she saw the way Din’s shoulders deflated. “It’s better than sulking around in the Crest.” She understood his frustration. They were so close to leaving and completing the job. Now their only means of transportation was a metal skeleton. There was no way to retrieve the parts. They needed to regroup somewhere else and figure out what to do next. 

Din quietly nodded in agreement. It was settled. Din and Amreen began the trek back to Kuiil’s farm. The journey took up most of the day. By the time they arrived, the sun was already setting. Kuiil was working maintenance on his farm. “I thought you both were dead.” His comment made the duo pause. 

She looked up at him and could only smirk when Kuiil turned to peer down at them. “We ran into a little bit of a problem.” 

Kuiil huffed, then made his way down the antennae he had been working on and motioned for the pair. “Tell me what happened.” Din and Kuiil drifted off towards the tool table to repair Din’s vambrace. And he began to tell Kuiil about the Jawas and the Razor Crest. 

Amreen allowed herself a moment to breathe, suddenly aware of the aches all over her body. She’s seen worse days during jobs, but today was particularly exhausting. And they were no closer to figuring out a way off the planet. 

The child cooed again, garnering her attention. The kid was looking around at everything around him, his tiny hands gripping onto the edge of the pram. A small squeal from the kid and its arm reached out. 

Amreen looked in the direction, seeing a few frogs hopping about. She connected the hints and slowly nodded her head. “You want out?” 

The kid peered up at her, its ears perking up at her question. That seemed to be the only answer she’ll get. 

Either way, she obliged. Amreen carefully lifted the kid out of its pram and set them on the ground. The kid immediately started toddling around, at first following the frogs that got them so curious, then switched their attention to the various structures on the farm. Amreen followed the kid around the farm, allowing them to satisfy their curiosity without getting into something that could hurt them. At one point, the kid had tried to climb up the leg of Kuiil’s tool table. 

“Hey, hey,” Amreen rushed over and carefully pulled the kid away from the table. Its ears dropped and it made a small noise of protest. Raising up an arm, the kid pointed to the table and let out another squeal. But Amreen shook her head, “No, you could hurt yourself.” This brought back memories when she was a kid and watched over her younger cousin. 

The kid didn’t offer any other retort of protest, figuring that they wouldn’t be able to win against her. Thankfully, the kid’s attention was back on trying to toddle after the frogs from earlier. Still, Amreen stayed close and kept her eye on the kid. 

Kuiil was quite curious about the kid. “This is what was causing all the fuss?” 

Amreen merely raised her brows in affirmation. She was still quite perplexed about it all. So far she has seen nothing that would answer her biggest question. Why would this kid have a bounty on their head? What does the Empire want with an innocent child? Perhaps, that question will be answered sooner than she thought. Kuiil offered to take them to the Jawas in order to trade back the stolen parts. Din was less than optimistic. But what other choice did he have? 

“We must venture out soon, we must not waste time.” 

They packed the few essentials needed for the trip into the pod. Once the blurg was harnessed up, it was time to leave. And after watching the kid eat a live frog (a rather strenuous moment that left the hunters dumbfounded and fearing the kid would choke), Amreen got the kid into its pram and they began the long trek to the Jawa’s stakeout. It was going to take them all night. Amreen got herself comfortable. With her back leaned up against the side of the pod, her legs stretched out in front of her and hands resting comfortably in her lap, she glanced over at the closed pram. Din didn’t want to risk the kid possibly sneaking out. 

The seed of doubt in her stomach was starting to grow more prominent. She looked over at Din who was mirroring her posture, his rifle in his lap. “I know we don’t talk about it,” his helmet tilted to the side as he looked at her. “Why do you think they want him so bad? What would the Empire want with a child… a baby?” She turned her head to look at the cradle. “I mean is it some important figure’s kid, I’ve never seen one of his species before, have you?” 

“No.” Din shifted in his spot, allowing his gaze to fall on the cradle. “No point in questioning, we won’t get any answers.” 

“Have you ever brought in a kid from a bounty?” 

The question startled him. Din’s attention was on her in an instant, a searing look of questioning in her eyes and a hint of uncertainty. “No,” he heard his voice waver. “This is the first.” 

_ And he was okay with that? _ She forced herself to keep the words in her mouth. There was no point in arguing about it. They were sent on a job and she intended on seeing this job all the way through. Besides, there had to be a valid reason for them wanting the kid. There was nothing that made her feel they would harm it. At least, she hoped not. Then again, this was the Empire who were looking for it. They weren’t exactly the most merciful regime. 

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Leaving both the hunters to simmer in their own thoughts, swallowing down the uneasy feeling of doubt. Before she knew it, the sun rose from the horizon and she felt a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her. She should have gotten some sleep during the trip, but she was too caught up in her thoughts. It was starting to make her feel sick that she was willing to give this kid over. A kid who did nothing wrong, nothing to deserve being hunted down by the Empire. What did that say about her? 

When they arrived at the Jawa’s stakeout, it was quite evident that what took place the day before hadn’t been forgotten easily. After agreeing to stash their weapons away, the Jawas were willing to sit down for negotiations. If anyone could even call it a negotiation. The parts they stole were never theirs to begin with. Din wasn’t going to trade them anything to get them back. 

“These are my parts, they stole them from me!”

Maybe it really was impossible to bargain with Jawas. “We can’t sit here all day arguing about this,” Amreen spoke up, kneeling down next to Kuiil. “There has to be something else we can do for a trade.” 

And just like that, Din and Amreen were stashed away in the Jawa’s crawling fortress and taken further out into the dunes. Something about an egg, the Jawas wanted them to retrieve an egg for them. If they succeeded in that endeavor then they would return all the parts to them. It seemed easy enough. The fortress stopped in front of a maze of canyons, unable to traverse the terrain. Din and Amreen disembarked the fortress with the child and set out on foot. The Jawas said that the egg resided in a cave dug into the wall of a pit nestled between a few canyons. After about an hour of walking, they finally came upon the cave. They walked down the embankment of the canyon and stared at the opening. 

“Do we need a plan?” 

Din pulled out his blaster, “Stay here with the kid, this shouldn’t take long.” He wasn’t sure what resided in the cave. He’d rather have Amreen stay behind and be safe, then both of them going head first and leaving the kid alone. 

Amreen understood the logic and didn’t say anything, just silently watched as Din entered the cave. Now alone, her eyes scouted the area around them. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It was so quiet, she hated it. After the attack in the canyon, her nerves were on end more than usual. The bounty on this kid’s head was bigger than she had ever encountered in her years as a hunter. A part of her was waiting for someone else to try and take the kid from them. As if they could read her thoughts, Amreen felt a small tug on her hand. She peered down at the kid who was looking up at her, its small claw reaching out for her hand. This time she didn’t pull away. Instead, Amreen knelt down until she was eye level with the kid. They stared at her with those big eyes, head tilting. Both of them were trying to get a read on each other. 

“So what is it?” Amreen asked. The kid only cooed at her words. “What is it about you that has them so determined to find you?” 

Its ears drooped, again the kid reached its claw out to her. She had to admit, the kid was kind of cute. Completely innocent, probably not able to comprehend why it is she and Din took him away. They definitely didn’t know what was waiting for them back on Nevarro. Her stomach twisted at the thought. Was that guilt she was feeling? No, this was a job. She was on a job, nothing more. Amreen gave the kid a brief smile, bringing her hand up and holding out a finger to it.

The small claw wrapped around her finger. She wiggled it a bit. The kid’s ears perked up and let out a happy squeal that even made her heart jump. 

_ You can’t hand this kid over. _ She frowned as the thought came to mind.  _ You know what will happen if you do.  _ Amreen hesitated, her sudden change in mood was picked up by the kid. Reluctantly, she pulled her finger from the kid’s grasp and ducked her head down, feeling the kid’s eyes on her. She felt guilty and… ashamed. Ashamed at herself for even settling with the idea of handing the kid over. But what else was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like they could take the kid and  _ not  _ hand them over. No, they couldn’t do that. 

“Sorry, kid.” She was sorry for everything. For everything that happened before and for what was going to happen later. 

A hearty roar emanated from inside the cave. Amreen shot up and turned her attention at the opening, her heart racing. She heard the roar again, this time it was followed by the sound of a blaster going off.  _ Shit.  _ From the opening, Din was tossed out, his body slamming to the ground with an aching thud. “Din!” Amreen ran after him, hand on her blaster as she skidded to a stop and knelt down next to him. “What is it?” 

“Mudhorn.” Din choked on the word. 

“What?” 

A roar crept up behind her. She turned in time to see a Mudhorn barreling towards her. There was no time for her to draw her blaster. She barely had time to push Din out of the way before the beast collided into her. Its massive horn pressed harshly against her torso, using it to toss her into the air. Her body landed several feet away from Din, the impact knocking the breath out of her body. Amreen curled onto her side, choking on her breath and eyes watering from the burning ache in her chest. There was a thick substance in her mouth that tasted awful. She gathered it in her mouth and spit it out, realizing that it was mud. Most of her body was now covered in mud. 

Despite the screaming protest in her body, she pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Her vision blurred together, unfocused and unclear.  _ Fuck.  _ She shook her head and blinked in an effort to clear her vision. The ground beneath her began to tremble. She looked over and saw the Mudhorn’s blurred figure coming towards her. She blindly reached for her blaster and cursed under her breath to find her holster was empty. Stumbling to her feet, Amreen pulled out her knife and braced herself. Once the beast collided with her again, she wrapped an arm around its horn as it began dragging her across the muddy ground, trying its best to throw her off of it. Her vision still had yet to clear fully but she started to slash the beast’s face with her knife. 

Her aim must have been good enough. The Mudhorn let out an agonized roar. It came to a halt and slammed Amreen into the ground, its horn crushing into her chest. 

She couldn’t breathe. The grip she had on the beast’s horn dropped.. Her hand raised to her chest, fearing that it had cracked her chest cavity or even her ribs. She tried taking in deep breaths, hoping to answer that concern for herself. But she felt nothing, like her entire body had suddenly gone numb.  _ Shit,  _ she had to do something. She looked ahead of her, now she could see the Mudhorn clearly and it was coming for her again. Closing her eyes, she attempted to prepare herself for the next hit but it never came. She didn’t bother to find out why. Amreen laid back and stared up at the sky, the adrenaline slowly starting to wear off. Every inch of her body ached back to life, her chest filling with a scorching burn that flared with every breath she took. 

Her head fell to the side and she saw Din being tossed around by the Mudhorn. The distinct  _ ping _ of the horn coming in contact with Din’s helmet was enough to make her cringe. She had to help him. She had to find her blaster. Gritting her teeth, Amreen rolled onto her stomach, the pressure on her chest and ribs was almost too much. The new position caused her to cough and wheeze, the burning flowed through her nerves stretching all the way to the tips of her fingers.

“Come on,” she muttered to herself. Taking in a deep breath, she pushed herself back onto her hands and knees. A moment to breathe, filling her lungs with enough oxygen. The pain wasn’t as bad now or that was just the adrenaline saving her life. Next, she scoured the ground around her, her hands slinking around the thick mud, desperately attempting to track down her blaster. “Shit.” Her head turned to look over at Din. His entire armour was covered in mud, his chestplate was busted open, and he looked to be on the edge of passing out. 

The Mudhorn stared him down before charging after him. In her foggy mind, Amreen tried to come up with a plan but nothing was coming to her. Was this really going to happen? Were they going to be finished off by a Mudhorn? Without completing their job, what would happen to the kid? 

It’s a good thing she apologized to them before this all happened. Maybe Kuiil would take care of him. But more people would come for it, putting Kuiil in danger. God, this was a massive failure on both of their parts. 

A sudden shift in the air caught her attention. It was subtle, most would have missed it. But she recognised the intuition, having experienced it several times long ago when she was a child. She felt her stomach twist into a knot at the sensation. The air became lighter, a slight chill went down her spine as the Mudhorn became stuck. Only not stuck. It couldn’t move as if something was keeping it at bay. Then the beast slowly rose into the air, its legs kicking about, trying to get out of hold on it. 

A drop in her stomach and then a voice in her head said,  _ “The kid.”  _ She careened her head to look at the kid. Its arm outstretched and its claw opened in a relaxed position. The kid was doing it. The kid was holding the Mudhorn in the air. She hadn’t seen this since Chandrilla.  _ No, it can’t be.  _

It didn’t last long. The kid soon grew tired and fell back into its pram. Din took advantage of the moment and embedded his knife into the side of the Mudhorn’s neck. With a long forlorn moan, the beast fell to its side and soon grew still. 

With the danger taken care of, she felt a wave of relief flood her body. She stumbled to her feet, hissing at the ever present ache in her ribs and back… and legs. Her entire body was aching. Now back on her feet, it didn’t take long for her to spot her blaster lying a few feet away from her. Of course, it would be just out of reach for her. She limped over and picked up the weapon, tiredly wiping away the mud only to make it smear everywhere. Blowing out a defeated sigh, she meandered over to the pram, faltering in her steps a few times. 

The kid was out like a light, albeit its breathing was a little labored which worried her when she noticed it. Amreen reached out and brushed over one of its claws with her finger, hoping that it would wake them up briefly. Just to assure her that they were okay but the kid didn’t so much as stir. She hoped that it wasn’t injured in some way. Despite neither of them saying a word, the question was burning a hole on their tongues. 

What the hell just happened? 

Except Amreen had a clue. She just didn’t want to accept it. 

“I still need to get the egg,” Din finally broke the silence. He took a quick glance down at his armour, sighing at the damage done to it, especially his chestplate. “You good?” 

Amreen nodded wordlessly, her eyes never leaving the sleeping bundle in front of her. “Let’s just hurry and get out of here.” 

* * *

The trade went off without a hitch. However, Amreen was disgruntled that she and Din went through all of that to retrieve an egg for the Jawa’s to eat. As if they couldn’t have gotten it themselves. Granted, the Jawas might have had a difficult time dealing with the Mudhorn but that was the least of her concerns. The little bastards deserved it. After piling all of the parts onto the pod, the group set back out to the Razor Crest. The trip started out quiet. Until Din brought up what had happened with the Mudhorn. He explained everything, how the Mudhorn lifted from the ground and the kid seemed to be the one causing it. Only there was nothing physical keeping the beast at bay. The story was strange enough to make Kuiil speechless. It took a moment before the Ugnaught finally spoke.

“Explain to me again, I still don’t understand.” 

“Neither do I.” Din said. 

And Amreen only managed to bite her tongue, preventing her from saying anything about the matter. The subject prodded her mind for the rest of the trip. It felt like a dream. When she left Chandrilla, it never crossed her mind that she would encounter this again. That she would meet another individual with the same  _ supposed  _ abilities. She shook the memories away and lulled herself into a sleep. When Din finally woke her, night had fallen and they were back at the Razor Crest. Unfortunately for her, the few hours of sleep did nothing for the ache in her ribs. Regardless, she sucked it up and said nothing about it to Din. They were almost off the planet anyway. Once they got to Nevarro, she would see a medic about the potential damage. Before getting out of the pod, she leaned over to look into the pram. The kid was still asleep, appearing to not have woken up once during their slumber. Maybe the kid will wake up in a few hours. 

With no time to waste, Din, Kuiil, and Amreen got to work restoring the Razor Crest. The task was exhausting, and for Amreen, a little painful. Lifting heavy panels and bending over did nothing to help with her physical predicament. She never said anything. However, unbeknownst to her, Din was able to spot something was wrong not far into the project. She was moving more steadily than usual, was short of breath easily, and having to take breaks quite frequently. He asked her once if anything was wrong, she only answered saying that she was just exhausted and bruised up. They both had been thrown around by the Mudhorn, his own body was aching all over, not to mention his head was killing him. But he was managing the best he could. And she was too. That’s why he said nothing further on the subject. 

They never said anything to each other but they were both worried about the kid. Not once did the kid ever wake up. They both tried multiple times to wake the sleeping bundle but nothing ever worked. Whatever the kid did to the Mudhorn was more strenuous than they thought. Comparing the kid’s size to the Mudhorn’s size, it made sense that the kid was exhausted. Still, they didn’t know how to check for injury. The only thing they could do was allow the kid to sleep it off. Amreen thought about what she witnessed as a child back on Chandrilla. She thought about her brother. He had the ability to move things with his mind, it was never big things like a Mudhorn. Smaller objects like rocks, books, and the toys they loved to play with. It was like a game between the two of them. They never knew exactly  _ what  _ it was that he had. However, the older he got, the strength in his ability gradually began to grow. An incident that involved him accidentally throwing Amreen across the room was the end of it for him. He didn’t want to use his abilities anymore and he never told their parents about it. Amreen, being the younger sister, promised she wouldn’t say anything either. It was their secret. 

Now here she was over twenty years later and it was all coming back to her. And she didn’t know how to feel about it. 

After three tiring days of mere non-stop work, the Razor Crest was finally reassembled. Amreen took a step back to admire the work and exhaled a satisfied breath. Then paused when the breath tugged at her sore ribs. A hand went to rest against them, she took in careful breaths after that, nothing wanting to agitate it even more. Din boarded the crest to check the engines for efficiency, Amreen took the pram containing the sleeping kid and ventured onto the Razor Crest. As she went to climb the ladder, she peered up and saw Din staring down at her. “I got it,” he pressed a button on his vambrace, the pram levitated up to him. 

She nodded to him before turning around to find Kuiil gazing out of the open gate. Amreen quietly sauntered over to him, leaning against the wall of the crest. “You really saved our asses on this job.” 

“You both are my guests. I was happy to help.” 

She smiled and nodded. Out of her peripheral, she saw Din climbing down the ladder and making his way towards them. “I have no other way to thank you,” he said to Kuiil. “Please, allow us to give you a portion of the reward.” 

Amreen nodded, quite eagerly. She thought it was only fair. 

“I am honoured but I did not help in hope of gaining a reward.” 

“We can’t just leave without giving you something,” Amreen said. “You’ve done so much for us, more than we could ever ask for.” 

“You both brought peace back to these lands. For that I am thankful. It is the only reward I desire.” 

“Then, all we can offer is our thanks.” 

“Thank you, Kuiil.” 

The Ugnaught ducked his head down on a bow before disembarking the Razor Crest. Din and Amreen silently watched as he mounted his Blurg. Kuiil looked over at them and raised his hand up in farewell. “Safe passage. And good luck with the child. May it survive and bring you both a handsome reward.” 

Those words caused a breath to become caught in her throat. She choked back a groan at the flare up in her ribs. Honestly, she had almost forgotten about what was waiting for them on Nevarro. They still had to hand the kid over to the client. Amreen blinked and wordlessly went to climb up the ladder to the upper deck. As she stepped into the cockpit, she paused to look over at the kid. This time a sickening ache clawed away in her chest as she stared at the sleeping kid. How were they supposed to just hand them over? Not knowing what the client was planning on doing with it. How could she let that happen? 

The kid stirred in its sleep. Enough to snap Amreen out of her trance.  _ “Don’t think about it, Carr. Just finish the damn job.”  _

And that’s what she did. Amreen scrubbed the thought away from her mind, disconnecting herself from the guilt currently sinking in her stomach. She ignored it all. With lightspeed, they were only a few hours away from Nevarro. The kid will be out of their hair soon and they can move on from this mess of a job. The Razor Crest took off from the desert terrain of Arvala-7. The stars nestled against the black curtain of the galaxy was a sight for her sore eyes. And speaking of sore. Amreen stood from her seat, “I’m tapping out for a moment, you good?” 

Din barely turned his head to look at her, then nodded. “I’m good.” 

The first thing she did was wash off the mud from her face and hair. At least, she tried to get most of it out of her hair. She really didn’t feel like getting into the shower, no matter how disgusting she felt. She pulled her hair back in a bun and then proceeded to her room. There she was finally able to fully examine herself. It took longer to strip down to her undershirt. One wrong move or raising her arms to high caused her quite a bit of discomfort. She pulled up her undershirt until she had a full view of her torso. And, not to her surprise, dark purple patches occupied most of the area around her ribs and abdomen. 

“Shit,” she muttered to herself, moving one hand down to gently prod at her ribcage. She hissed at the contact but gave another gentle press, wanting to see if she could feel any fractures or breaks. As her hand carefully moved around the bruised area, she tried sifting through her scant medical knowledge. Years ago, when she was working on a trader’s ship, the captain of their crew suffered broken ribs. She recalled their team medic feeling around for the breaks and it was quite easy for them to locate the fractures. Picturing how the medic’s hand moved across the skin, Amreen tried her best to mimic it. It only ended with her panting and her ribs aching. “Fuck,” she said through gritted teeth. She had a feeling that there were a few fractures. And the three day rigorous project of reassembling the Crest probably didn’t help her situation. 

With nothing else to do for herself, Amreen merely redressed herself and stepped out of her room. Her heart nearly stopped when she noticed a small figure standing a few feet away from her. “What the--” The kid was intently watching her, appearing to have just woken up from their three day slumber. “What are you doing?” 

The kid only tilted its head at her.

She hesitated, glancing back at her room before focusing on the kid again. “Did you follow me?” The kid’s ears gave a small twitch. “Does he not know that you’re here?” The little tyke must be quite sneaky on its feet. “Come on, we’ll be at Nevarro soon.” She went to walk to the cockpit but the kid let out a small noise that got her to stop. Peering down at them, the kid only stared up at her, looking as if they were expecting something. But she wasn’t sure what. 

“What?” She asked, a little impatient and confused by the attention. The kid gave a small shake, its ears dropping having sensed her mood shift. She felt her heart give a jolt. “Come on,” she bent down (ignoring the ever present sting) and carefully picked them up, the kid immediately snuggled against her. Oh, that was  _ different. _ The kid was already starting to get attached. That wasn’t good. Amreen cleared her throat and situated the kid until they were nestled in the crook of her arm. They seemed a little peeved from having been moved. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said after casting a quick glance at the kid. “Don’t get attached.” Yet, she was still carrying the little shorty. Amreen rolled her eyes at her own mental tug-o-war and went to return to the cockpit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait for this chapter!! This isn't my favorite but I do hope you all like it!!!


	5. A Change of Heart

When it came to being a bounty hunter, there was no room for guilt. It was a cut throat profession. Amreen only felt guilt one time during her tenure.

It had been her first job, about ten years ago. After working on a trader's ship for almost three years, she met a lone bounty hunter by the name of Halir Dunne on Sveer, a backwoods planet located in the mid-rim that was used as a halfway point for travelers. She'd been drinking her problems away in a rundown and crowded cantina when he approached her. Amreen dismissed his presence at first, thinking he just wanted a quick toss in his bed. However, Halir made it very clear that he wasn't looking for anything of that nature. Instead, he merely sparked a conversation with her. First, asking about herself, what was she doing on Sveer, quite generic questions that were easy to answer. Then the conversation switched to stories about his bounty tenure. It sounded interesting, her attention was piqued. And at the time, Amreen had left her crew and was trying to find her own way.

 _"What do you plan on doing then?"_ he asked her.

Amreen shrugged, quietly finishing off her drink. _"Not too sure yet."_

 _"I'm always willing to take on a crew member,"_ Haliar casually offered.

Her immediate reaction was against it. However, given the fact that she had no idea where else she was going, partnering up with Halir sounded like the most logical decision. So she did.

There was no point in teaching her self-defense, Amreen already had that skill locked down. Instead, Halir threw her headfirst into the world of bounty hunting. Amreen's first few jobs were simple and rather easy. She didn't do much, other than observe and follow his every word. They involved learning the art of stealth and acting on the first sign of an opportunity. He taught her how to read body language, how to come up with effective plans. Amreen thought she wouldn't be able to retain it all. Halir was encouraging to her, " _It all may seem overwhelming, don't sell yourself short."_

Then came her first real job. Her chance to prove herself and show him everything she'd learned. It was nerve wracking. SHe knew everything that she needed, Halir would be there to offer back-up if it was needed. Still, it did nothing to abide the gnawing ache in the pit of her stomach.

They were tracking down a young man who had jumped bail and was hiding on an isolated planet on the outer rim. When she found him, he'd been cowering in the corner of the local cantina. The young man thought he would try and sneak out, he didn't have much luck with that. Amreen cuffed him and walked him out of the cantina, apologizing for the ruckus that erupted because of her presence. He tried pleading with her to let him go. " _You don't have to do this, please."_ Amreen seemingly ignored his words, focused on keeping them both moving. " _Please,"_ he tried again, struggling with the binds around his wrists. " _I just got caught up in something, I was doing it for my family, please, let me go."_

Amreen wasn't used to this—having to deal with someone who was pleading with her to spare them. She was used to the rather mundane lifestyle that came with working on a trader's ship. It caught her off guard.

However, the pleading worked. It gave the young man enough leeway to slip out of her grasp and take her on a wild chase through the small town. Good thing Halir was able to catch up to the bounty.

" _I'm sorry,"_ Amreen took a moment to catch her breath, watching as Halir pulled the bounty to his feet. " _He-he got loose and I lost my grip on him."_ She tried explaining herself, only to go quiet when she saw the look on Halir's face. She didn't try to say anything else. Halir walked them back to their ship. The entire trek Amreen could only berate herself to almost screwing up the entire job.

" _You were too soft,"_ Halir admonished her when they returned to the ship. " _You need to strengthen that mind of yours, don't let yourself get played easily. These people have bounties on their heads for a reason. Never forget that."_

And she didn't. After the near failed attempt, Amreen vowed that it would never happen again. She grew thick skin. Never felt the sting of guilt in her stomach after that. Halir was quite surprised with how quickly she adapted after the first job. It proved to be quite valuable to have her on his crew. She was younger, in better shape, able to maintain longer chases than him. Amreen was able to pick up where he slacked due to his age. She was his prodigy. Halir was never a man who was keen on showing emotion, but he was quite generous with telling her how proud he was. Halir became like a father figure to her.

As they approached Nevarro, Amreen found herself swimming in memories of the late Halir. All the things she had seen and encountered while working with him. The last conversation they had before she found him dead in his room. She never realized what it meant to be by his side until after she had buried him in the ground. Amreen glanced over at the kid who was messing with a ball fixture they managed to get a hold of.

"It's not a toy," Din calmly admonished the kid as he took the fixture away, placing it out of reach so the kid couldn't get to it.

She wondered what Halir would think of this. Would he feel just as comfortable as her with the prospect of handing an infant over to Imps? Or would he tell her it's all part of the job? And as the Razor Crest finally landed on Nevarro, Amreen couldn't help but think that Halir would be disappointed if he knew what she was feeling. Guilt. The ever present feeling was nothing more than a faint sting in the pit of her stomach. Weak enough for her to ignore it. However, when Din climbed down the ladder into the hull with the pram following behind, she could feel her stomach lurch when her eyes fell on the kid.

That's when Halir's words came back to her. _You're too soft. Don't let yourself get played easily._ She nodded to herself and swallowed down the lump that had caught in her throat. This was a job. Just like the ones she's completed several times before. It was part of the job. She ignored the way her stomach twisted at those words. Taking her scarf, she wrapped it around her neck and pulled up the fabric until it covered her mouth and nose. Then, the three of them left the safety of the Razor Crest.

The walk back to the client's hideout was quiet. They passed through the main sector of town, ignoring the glances that were sent their way. The stares from the townspeople didn't bother her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the kid looking at everything with a sense of confusion and wonderment. Anytime they were a little scared, they would glance up at Amreen or Din. The latter was great at ignoring the kid's eyes, it was Amreen who felt herself faltering. She felt like the kid _knew_ what was happening. That it was going to be left with a bunch of strangers whose reasons for finding it were unknown. It only caused the guilt within her to flare. Still, she managed to hold herself together and felt herself breath out in relief when they arrived at the client's destination. Din showed the gatekeeper droid their transponder and three stormtroopers appeared from the doorway. One of them turned to look at the kid, Amreen followed in suit, feeling her heart jump at the small noise the kid made. They looked scared.

 _This is wrong and you know it, s_ he heard that voice return. _Don't leave the kid with them._

There was no time for her to do anything. The three of them were being escorted into the compound, down the same dingy hallway they walked through on their first trip here. She witnessed one of the troopers pull on the pram, a little too hard for Din's liking.

"Easy with that."

"You take it easy."

Amreen went to reach for her blaster, but was stopped halfway when a door slid open. She looked forward and saw the client and doctor—Pershing was his name—they had met earlier. There was nothing she could do now. She was in the lion's den. Amreen took notice of how the client and Pershing were eyeing the kid. The way they surrounded the pram, hovering over the kid like a pair of vultures. It made her incredibly uneasy.

Amreen took her place next to the pram, watching as the client and doctor began to admire the child. Her eyes narrowed as the doctor brought out a scanner, the red beams hovered over the child's face. The kid tried turning their head away, not liking the bright light in its eyes. At this, she stepped a little closer to the pram, staring down the doctor as he continued to check over the kid.

Thankfully, he pulled the device away. "The child is healthy, very healthy."

The client straightened his back and focused on the duo before him. "Your reputations were warranted, you have completed the job successfully."

"How many fobs did you give out?" Din completely brushed past the client's compliment.

"This asset was of extreme importance to me. Ensuring its delivery was a priority."

While remaining next to the pram, Amreen moved her gaze from Pershing, who was busy admiring the child, to the client as he presented the payment over to Din. When the client pulled out a camtono, it caught her attention long enough to see that it was full of Beskar. She watched Din interact with the client, unaware that Pershing had synced his control to the child's pram and was escorting it towards a door that led down a separate hallway. Amreen's gaze snapped over and her eyes focused on the kid, they were staring at both her and Din. A small cry fell past its lips, crying out for them. The kid looked so confused as to why it was being taken away from them.

The cry made her chest ache. _Do something. Stop them. Get the kid back. Don't just stand there._ Amreen made no attempt to move from where she had been standing. All she could do was watch as the kid disappeared through the entryway and the door slid closed. She let out a shaky breath that she had been holding back.

"What are your plans for it?" Din asked.

"How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation. You have taken both commission and payment. Is it not the code of the Guild that these events are now forgotten?" If the warning behind his words weren't enough, then the extra security that entered the room was it for them. They were both surrounded. And the client was right, the transaction being complete meant a job well done.

But she swallowed down the uneasy feeling of dissatisfaction. Din didn't say another word. He took hold of the camtono and turned around, signaling that it was time for them to leave. Amreen wordlessly went to follow him when the client spoke up again.

"Just a moment," the duo paused, their shoulders immediately tensing. "You must not forget the other half of your payment."

She was hoping they would both be gone before the client noticed. Of course, why wouldn't he notice her not taking the payment right away? Slowly, Amreen turned around to face the client. He slowly approached her with a brown pouch in hand, it was slightly bigger than the one she was given earlier, and came to a stop a few inches away from her. He held the bag out for her to take. Amreen could only stare at the pouch, her eyes slowly moved up until they were staring him down. "What reason would the Empire want with a baby?" Her lips, concealed by her scarf, curled at the corners when she saw the client's eyes darken with suspicion. "It is just a baby after all… unless..." She barely tilted her head to the side. "Unless there's something about the kid that's gotten your attention."

 _I saw what happened on Arvala,_ she thought to herself. _I know what the kid is capable of._

With a long exhale, the client straightened his shoulders, frowning when he saw her eyes narrowing at him. It was like he could read what she was thinking. In one fluid movement, he grabbed hold of Amreen's wrist and pulled her arm closer to him. The action agitated her sore ribs. She gasped and gripped onto the wrist of the hand that was holding her. The action caused everyone in the room to react. Din stepped closer, his hand finding the blaster in his holster. The guards had their weapons aimed on the duo.

But Amreen could only stare into the client's eyes, biting down on her lip to prevent from making any noise.

"The asset has been delivered. This transaction is therefore complete." He turned her hand palmside up and placed the pouch in her hand. "Enjoy your reward." He turned away from her.

Amreen remained in place, arm outstretched and her eyes burning holes into the back of the client's head. One of the guardsmen approached Amreen and took her by the arm, steering her around and pushing her forward. Din stepped in between the two, eyeing the guard, his glare transmitting through the visor clearly. "Easy," he warned the guard, as they were escorted out of the building.

One outside, Amreen cast a glance over her shoulder, watching as the door finally closed. And that was it. The job was finished, they got their reward. Time to venture onto the next job, right? But it didn't feel right. Din eyed the camtono in his grasp, feeling a heavy weight sinking to the pit of his stomach. Why did he feel like this? He's gone on multiple jobs and never felt this before.

The duo remained quiet but started off back towards the thick of town. Barely a few minutes into their trek, a sudden wave came over Amreen, cold and unrelenting. She stopped and turned to look behind her, back in the direction of where the client's hideout was. She wanted to continue forward, to get their next job and leave Nevarro again. But she couldn't move. As if something was keeping her in place.

"Amreen." Din's voice cut through the noise in her head.

Yet, she didn't turn to look at him. Her heart pounding within her chest, hard enough that she could hear the beats. She heard Din say her name again, this time she turned to focus on him. "We have to go back."

The words were enough to take him by surprise. She saw the way his shoulders tensed, his grip on the camtono tightened. He followed where her gaze had been-in the direction of the client's hideout and it remained there for a moment. He seemed to consider it, briefly, before focusing on her. "We need to head back to town."

Amreen blinked at his response, "We can't just leave the kid with them," she argued.

Din slowly shook his head. "The kid was an asset."

Those words felt like a sharp stab into Amreen's chest. It reminded her of what the IG unit had said to justify murdering a child. But she could hear the hesitation in Din's voice. "You said it yourself on Arvala. Not once have you ever brought in a child as part of a bounty." She gestured in the direction of the hideout. "This isn't right, Din."

"It's part of the job." He didn't want to argue with her, but a part of him knew she was right. But what could they do? They took on the bounty and delivered the asset. It's part of the job. Time to move onto the next one. And that thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Part of the job," she scoffed. "What we just did has never been part of our job! We just handed that kid over to the _Empire_ ," her eyes widened with emotion. "Who knows what they're going to do to it."

"That's not our business." Din responded, his voice had become hardened. Signaling for her to drop the subject.

"I refuse to believe that you're alright with this." When Din tried to turn away, Amreen caught hold of his wrist, he turned sharply to look back at her. She was closer to him now, only a few inches apart, her eyes staring into his visor. "That _asset_ —is a child, a baby, who has no idea what's going on or who those people are. And we just left them. We have to go back—"

"Amreen," Din's voice cut her off. Harsh and loud. It even startled her. The minute her name left his mouth, he wanted to take it back. "It's done," he breathed out and pulled his wrist from her grasp. "Leave it alone." Despite the tremble in his voice, Amreen knew better than to argue with him on this matter. Still, it did nothing to dissipate the sting she felt at his insistence on leaving the kid.

Taking a step back, she glanced down at the pouch in her hand. She tossed it a few times before shoving it to his chestplate. His hand instinctively clutched onto it. "Give that to the covert, I'm sure they need it more than we do." And anyway, she didn't want it. It was basically blood money at this point.

Din said nothing as she started heading back for the market. He could only stand in place, his eyes staring down the camtono and pouch. The rewards given to them for returning with the asset. _Not just an asset, a fucking baby._ He let out a despondent sigh before making the trek to the covert's hideout.

* * *

As the monitor passed over her body, Amreen remained still, her eyes focused on the ceiling above her. The whirring emanating from the instrument came to a stop and she let out a breath.

"Good news, there are no fractures, you just got really bruised up," Arla, the town's local medic, said with a noticeable relieved tone in her voice. However, Amreen was able to catch the side glance from the older woman. "Are you going to tell me how you sustained these bruises?"

Amreen cleared her throat, then pushed herself to sit up. "Mudhorn." She answered, wincing as she tugged on her sore ribs. "Are you sure there are no fractures?"

Arla raised a brow at her but smiled regardless. "The scanner doesn't lie, but you _are_ going to be very sore for the next week or so. I suggest you take it easy until the pain subsides."

Amreen chuckled, "There's no way for me to make time for that."

"Well, you might need to." Arla placed the scanner down on the table next to Amreen's cot, she quickly eyed the dried mud all over Amreen's clothes. "I'm guessing all of that is from the Mudhorn as well?"

Amreen glanced down at her clothes and could only nod. Truth be told, she had forgotten the state of her appearance. She even smirked at the fact that she met with the client looking like this. "It can be a dirty job sometimes."

"Well, I hope the reward was well worth it."

The statement was all in good nature. But Amreen could feel her stomach lurch. The kid was still back there with the Imps. The kid was probably scared and confused, and they just left them. Again, she tried to push that sickening feeling to the back of her mind. Amreen paid Arla for her services, despite the older woman's objections. The checkup was quick and simple, she didn't want to charge Amreen. But the hunter was persistent and the woman reluctantly took the fare. Upon leaving, Amreen had the mind to return to the Crest for a proper clean up and a change of clothes. Instead, she found herself heading for the local cantina, she needed some answers before moving onto the next job. She needed to settle this persistent pit at the bottom of her stomach.

The cantina was crowded with the usuals. Some of them took notice of her not so clean appearance, some of them even casting her disapproving looks. She passed them completely unfazed, her eyes set on Greef who was sitting at his usual booth. He took notice of her right away, that toothy grin almost set her mind ablaze. "Welcome back," he greeted warmly, clearly very happy to see her. "A job well done, not that I'm surprised." Greef gestured at the seat across from him, "Make yourself comfortable."

Amreen eyed the booth, took in a deep breath, then slid into her seat. She noticed the way that Greef narrowed his eyes once he got a good look at her.

"Must have been a rough job," he commented on the dried mud all over her clothes.

"If you consider trying to wrangle a Mudhorn to be rough, then yeah," Amreen answered, then pulled the scarf down from her face.

"You both must have had quite the adventure then," Greef waved at the bartender, signaling for a round of drinks before turning back to her. "What took you both so long?"

"I'm not here to drink and exchange job details, Greef." A waiter approached the table, setting down two cups but Amreen waved her hand at him. The waiter merely nodded and left with her drink. "I'm here because I need some questions answered."

"Oh." Greef tilted his head slightly, brows raised in surprise. He picked up his cup and took a slow drink. "What does it pertain to?"

"The asset."

He paused, staring silently at her, thinking of an easy answer that would satisfy her. "Well, there might have been—"

"Don't try and talk your way out of this, Greef." She knew that look, the one he always put on when he tried to wriggle his way out of something. It was in the way he narrowed his eyes, how the fingers on his left hand always seemed to twitch. Over the last few years of working for his Guild, she had become rather efficient at catching his poker face. "Did you know they were looking for a child?"

Greef didn't say anything. For a long moment, his eyes remained on the drink in front of him. She almost thought that he may have been feeling some form of guilt. It became a bit more clear when he finally looked up at her. "Yes."

There was something about the way he said it that made her stomach drop. "You knew that Mando and I would be going after a child?"

Greef nodded.

"And you knew they were Imps and you said nothing to us."

"Would you have taken the job if I had?" The only response he received was a scoff. "You tracked down the asset and delivered it to the quarry. I don't understand why you're so upset."

"I'm upset because we were hunting down a _child_ , who we were supposed to hand over to _Imps_."

"It's part of the job."

"Part of the job." She slowly shook her head, wondering why she felt so disappointed in him. "This was never part of the job, _children_ were never part of the job."

"Times change." Greef settled back into his booth, laying his one arm on the booth's backrest. "The Empire is gone, the world we live in now is chaos in its truest form. Anything and everything is up for the ticket."

"No, the people we hunt down are individuals who made choices that got them to where they were. This child is completely innocent, no control over the matter."

"And yet, the kid is interesting enough to warrant the attention of Imperial remnants." Greef regarded her for a moment before finishing his drink. But he could understand where she was coming from. He wasn't too sure how he would feel in her position, but it was just a job. Nothing more and nothing less. "Amreen, I understand this job may be a little upsetting for you,"

She merely rolled her eyes at the statement.

"You've been a hunter for over a decade, you were an apprentice under Halir Dunne." Hearing her former partner's name from Greef's mouth earned him a cold glare. "Knowing his track record, I know you have committed certain acts that would leave a horrid taste in the mouths of others."

Amreen leaned forward, her hands clenched into fists, she was fighting the strong urge to punch him. "We never brought in children. I thought the Guild would have some kind of moral ethic to not allow something like that to happen."

"Moral code." Greef huffed at the sentiment. "All of you hunt down individuals for a living." He glanced around the cantina, taking in the faces of all the familiar hunters he's gotten to know over his tenure. "The only code we abide by is the Guild's, in which we don't ask questions. There's no true morality in a profession like this." When his eyes focused back on her, she was staring him down with a hardened glare. "Being a hunter entails the need for survival, after the job is done and the rewards are collected, that's all what it's about. Survival. Don't feel guilty for doing your job."

Greef's words echoed what Halir had told her years ago. Halir always preached to her how this job wasn't for everyone. Most get into the guild thinking it would be easy. They were dealing with scared, often dangerous, individuals who are trying to do the same thing she and Halir did. Survive. Except, the expense of these individual's freedoms and livelihoods are what puts currency into her pocket. In her long tenure as a hunter, she still remembers all of their faces, she remembers every single encounter. Some were easy and by the numbers, others almost got her killed. Some begged to be spared. It's a heavy burden to live with, one that would drive most to go crazy. That's why Halir always told her that she needed to strengthen her mind. To not let her emotions get the better of her. Amreen felt her body give a jolt at the thought. That's exactly what she was doing now. Letting her emotions get the better of her, dictating how she was feeling over just doing her job.

The conditioning in her brain begged her to leave this alone. To ask Greef for their next job and leave Nevarro. To put this whole job behind her and continue on. But something was stopping her. She came from a family of fighters, raised on the belief that she always needed to do what was right. No matter how difficult it was. Staying silent was never something her family agreed with. Though she's been away from home for a long time, that fighter instinct was starting to kick back in. This was wrong. And she knew it.

"You and Mando have been working hard with these last few jobs," Greef's voice pulled her out from her thoughts. She could see the faint smirk on his face, thinking that he managed to get her on his side of things. "You both should go out and enjoy some time off."

Amreen quietly nodded, making sure to keep her face still. She pulled the scarf back over her mouth and nose, then stood up from the booth and went to leave, but stopped and turned back to him. "Do you know what they are going to do with it? The Child?"

Greef gave her a half shrug. "I didn't ask. You know it's against the code."

"Yeah, the code," she hummed to herself. "And bounty hunters honor that code."

Greef nodded in agreement.

With a single nod, Amreen turned around and exited the cantina. Now, she had everything she wanted to know. Her shoulders squared as her brain came to life with a plan. Hunters abide by the Guild's code. Greef said that there was no such thing as morality in this chosen field. And while that may have been true for some time, Amreen knew what needed to be done.

* * *

Din Djarin was very much an individual who lived by his own set of morals. Aside from Halir, Din was possibly one of the most honorable hunters Amreen has ever come across. She expressed this thought to Din on a few occasions. He never said anything on the matter. The work they do doesn't make room for honor most of the time. However, Din liked to think he was a somewhat decent individual. He did questionable things when he was younger, particularly while running with Ranzar and his crew. Things Din wishes he could forget. They still haunt him every so often during sleepless nights on the Crest. Situations that he hasn't shared with Amreen. He didn't want to and she never pestered him about it. They each knew the other's boundaries.

Din likes to think that he has changed. Older and, perhaps, wiser. He knows right from wrong, but he is also a realist. That comes from being raised within the structural confines of Mandalorian culture. The Creed was indelibly imprinted on his mind at such a young age. He was a foundling, grateful to his _buir_ and to the Mandalorians who took him in and raised him as one of their one. Din felt safe with them. The Mandalorians were the greatest warriors in the galaxy, nothing would ever come to harm him while under their care. Then, The Purge took everything away from the ones who survived. The culture was stripped and nearly destroyed. The survivors fled to hide from total extinction, they became hardened and cautious. But the Mandalorians always held strong to their honor, creed, and morals.

And despite his feeble attempts to settle the gnawing ache in his head, Din couldn't get the asset- no, the kid -from his mind. The seed of doubt was planted the moment he saw the kid lying in its pram. The moment he realized that they had been hunting for a child. He almost felt ill. But like any good hunter, Din swallowed down any misgivings and carried on with the job. It was a job after all. It was only when he saw Amreen's hesitation did the facade start to fail. It was after the Mudhorn incident, during the trek back to the Razor Crest. The way she watched the kid, her eyes widened with curiosity and disbelief. He witnessed her begin to reconsider the nature of this job. She never said anything about the matter, not until they were walking out of the client's base with their reward in hand.

At the time, he didn't want to admit it, but Amreen was _right._ The asset was just a kid, a mere infant who had no control or say in the matter that was dealt to them. He's dealt with bounties that involved young individuals. Young adults who made the choices that got them on a client's list. But never an actual child. But this was a job. The reasoning for Imps wanting this kid was no concern of his. It was the code of the Guild to not ask those questions.

But Din wasn't just a Guild hunter, he was a Mandalorian first and foremost. And there was his Creed. More particularly, the importance of children-foundlings.

The Mandalorians understood and believed in one commonality. Children must always be treasured. They deserve a safe place to grow and learn, to be loved and protected. Din was a product of that belief, and as Mandalorian himself, it was a belief he took seriously. He often thought about if there would ever come the time for him to take on that responsibility. To become a _buir_ in his own right. Neither he or any other Mandalorian wished for such an occasion. No child deserved to be ripped from their home and family.

In this case, with the asset, the child was an orphan. The only family this kid had are the individuals who are still strewn about the compound back on Arvala. And the child was in Din's care. The child was a foundling then. _No, the kid is an asset. Part of a bounty._ Din told himself. _The kid isn't a foundling._ Anything to justify him handing the infant over to Imps. Anything to squander the piercing guilt that had settled in his stomach.

As the Armorer used the reclaimed Beskar to fashion a new set of armour for Din, he couldn't help the feeling of being unworthy of such a thing. Yes, the Beskar that belonged to his people had finally been returned. But it was the reward for handing over an infant to the Empire. Where was the honour in that? He wondered how his fellow Mandalorian would feel about it. Would they admonish him for turning his back on a child who needed him? How disappointed they would be that he ignored one of the core values of the Creed, a shared value that granted _him_ a home and a family. This weighed heavily on him, even more so during his altercation with Paz. A cold chill rushed through his body at the mere thought of Vizsla finding out about the transaction, about what Din had committed. Still, the scuffle was only a fraction of what Din deserved.

The Beskar was not a well earned reward. Din realized this as he began the trek through the market. The weight of the Beskar felt much heavier as he strode into the cantina. All eyes were on him, glaring down his form. All occupants quietly seething with jealousy at not being handed the job. He ignored their stares, instead he focused on Karga who was sitting in his booth, busy with his drink. There was a rather pensive look on the older man's face that told Din something had taken place.

"You just missed Amreen," Karga said, the stern look in his eyes melted away as he looked up at Din. "She was rather strung up over this job."

Din's helmet barely tilted down at his words; he could just imagine her getting rather annoyed with Karga. "What did she say?"

"She wanted to know more about the asset."

That didn't surprise the bounty hunter one bit. Their conversation flowed after the mention of Amreen. Din could feel his body run cold at hearing Karga confirm that he _knew_ the Empire was looking for a kid. Something about the confirmation set something off within Din, he wasn't quite sure what it was. Shock, disbelief, or disappointment? He never had high expectations for Guild members, not even for Greef. Yet, it didn't stop the truth from stinging just a little bit. Regardless, Din made sure not to give away the uneasy feeling. He simply asked Greef for their next job, the latter was quite happy to hand over the next job.

As Din got up to leave, he couldn't help himself as he turned to look back at Greef. "What are their plans for it?" Din's question was quite pertinent. He could see the suspicion cross over Greef's features as he regarded the hunter before him.

"I didn't ask," Greef answered, echoing what he had said to Amreen. "You _know_ it's against the code."

Din never dignified Greef's statement with an answer. He simply left the cantina and made the quick walk to the Crest. When he was only a few feet from his ship, Din stopped in his tracks when he glanced up. The ramp door was closed. A rather peculiar detail. If Amreen returned to the ship before him, she always left the ramp door open to anticipate his arrival. Din raised his arm and clicked a button on his vambrace. The ramp door opened and Din wasted no time as he walked up the ramp. It was quiet. The silence settling uneasily in his stomach as he climbed up the ladder. When he ventured into the cockpit, he was greeted by only more silence and no sign of Amreen. And if she wasn't on the Crest there was only one place she could be. Din let out a despondent sigh, thinking about the trouble this would bring both of them.

A small silver ball fixture sitting on the dash caught Din's attention. He felt his stomach lurch when he realized it was the same fixture the kid was messing with earlier. The one Din took away from him, " _It's not a toy."_ Din slowly walked over to the dash, the steps surprisingly were agonizing. He picked up the fixture and screwed it back onto the lever. His hand remained in place as he thought about the kid. The look they gave Din as Pershing took them away. Amreen's sense of panic when she suggested they go back for them. The look of disbelief he saw in her eyes when he told her to leave it alone. " _I refuse to believe that you're alright with this."_ Din gritted his teeth, his helmet tilting down as he heard Amreen's voice echoing in his head. She was right. He wasn't alright with this. They had to get the kid back. And Amreen was already out there, no doubt trying to get the kid back.

Din wasted no time. He stalked off the Crest, using his vambrace to close the ramp behind him, and started the trek through town. Casting a glance over his shoulder, his hand curled into a fist at seeing the sun start to dip behind the horizon. Nightfall would provide them with additional coverage to slip out of town with the kid. _Maker,_ he just hoped that they weren't too late to save the kid. At the mere thought of being too late, his feet picked up the pace, taking him through the town's bustle much quicker. In his clouded mind, Din tried to forge a plan for infiltrating the client's hideout. He turned down a familiar alleyway that led to a set of steps, just a few feet from that was the entrance to the hideout.

First, Din scanned his surroundings in an effort to locate Amreen. It was far too quiet. If she had managed to find a way inside, this whole area would be alive with activity. Then, where was she?

"Din?"

He heard his name being called out in a hushed whisper. Turning his head, he saw Amreen slip out from an alleyway. The rush of relief he felt upon seeing her was indescribable.

Amreen approached him, pulling the scarf down from her face. She couldn't stop the confused look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to save the kid."

To say she was happy was an understatement. Granted, she was fully prepared to tear through the hideout on her own. But to have Din here and intent on saving the kid was more of a relief she could have ever imagined. Amreen nodded, turning briefly to look back at where she had just come from. "We're gonna need to hurry, I found the kid's pram tossed out in that alleyway."

Din swallowed down the knot that formed in his throat. He glanced around the area, trying to get his rampant mind to focus. "You got a plan?"

Amreen slowly nodded. "We know he has guards. Distraction at the front entrance, have half the patrol out here doing a round. We go in the back way, take out whichever ones remain." She saw the way his helmet tilted, the skepticism was radiating off him. "I know." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not foolproof, or a guaranteed success. But we don't have time to hash out a better plan. That kid is not going to last long if we wait."

As much as Din wanted to strategize a better plan, he knew that she was right. Time was working against them. Din went to reach for his blaster and nodded at her. "As quick as possible."

"We've been in stickier situations." Her lips twitched at the sides as various memories flooded her mind. Still, it did nothing to prevent the chill that slithered down her spine. It was fine. She had him and he had her. That's all they needed to make this a success. Amreen spotted one of the bombs attached to Din's beltline. She reached her hand out and nodded to the item. Din didn't question, he only pulled the bomb from his belt and placed it in her hand. _This is gonna work, this has to work._ Amreen swallowed hard and let out a breath as she looked up into the visor of his helmet. "I got you."

Those three words were all he needed to hear.

The duo carried on with their hastily devised plan. While they both had their reservations, they moved forward and silently hoped that it would be enough. The distraction at the front entrance was easy to do. Din banged his fist against the door, waited for the gatekeeper droid to pop out, and grabbed onto the droid's head then pulled it off. The action caused a loud ruckus, enough that it would warrant the attention of the guards. Din was quick to high tail to the back of the hideout where Amreen had already situated the bomb onto the wall. They took refuge behind a building only a few feet away and waited as the bomb ticked down.

A loud explosion resonated throughout the alleyway. Another patrol would be there soon. They had to move quickly. Din and Amreen slipped through the newly formed opening. They split and hid themselves on opposite ends of the room. Amreen crouched down behind a number of storage containers. The door to the room slid open, four beams of lights danced around the room. Her hands reached out next to her, grabbing onto a blunt instrument—a repair tool of sorts. Quietly, she snuck around the other end of the containers until she was out in the open. Her eyes dead set on two of the guards. She tightened her hold on the instrument, and swung her arm around. The instrument came into contact with one of the guard's head, the blow shattering a portion of the helmet to pieces. The guard instantly fell to the ground. The other turned with his blaster aimed at her. She cut a blow to the trooper's arm, forcing him to drop the gun, then swung a hit across his helmet. She watched the trooper fall lifelessly to the ground, then glanced up in time to see Din finishing off the last trooper.

With a nod from Din, they ventured out from the storage room. With the main patrol doing a round on the outer perimeter, they didn't need to worry about running into many troopers. Din took out one trooper standing guard in the main hallway. This gave them a clear path down the hallway. They weren't too sure as to where the kid was. Given that Pershing seemed to have a real keen interest with the kid, their best choice would be to find where Pershing was. Given that he was the on sight doctor, the kid had to be in a med-room of sorts. With this in mind, Din and Amreen started to check every room they came across. Each one was either a storage room or barren. The next door they came to was at the end of the hall. This had to be it.

The door slid open and the duo were greeted with the sight of Pershing. The man in question whirled around, eyes widening with fear at the sight of the duo. Amreen and Din had their blasters raised up, aiming right for him. They entered the room, staring down the man before as he raised his arm up in defense.

"Please! Don't hurt him, he's only a child! Please!"

Amreen narrowed her eyes at the curious display of fear, not just any fear but fear and concern for… the kid? What the hell was this all about? Amreen marched over to the man and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. "Move." She demanded and pushed him to the side.

"No, please!" Pershing begged as he fell to the ground, moving to his knees as he watched the pair approach the cot.

The kid was sleeping, they weren't sure if it was by the kid's own accord or if Pershing had done something. Din's grip on his blaster tightened as he watched the small form. He turned his head to look at the doctor and straightened his aim, "What did you do to it?" Din asked. "What did you do?" he repeated, his tone more forceful.

"I protected him! I protected him, if it wasn't for me he would already be dead." The words fell out of Pershing's mouth, messy and hectic. It would have been easy for Din and Amreen to not believe him. However, given the fact it's already been a few hours since the trade off, the kid was still alive.

Amreen's gaze moved from Pershing and back to the kid. There wasn't any time for this. Regardless if Pershing _did_ do something to the kid, he was still alive. And they needed to leave, now. While Din kept Pershing at bay, Amreen swaddled the kid up in a blanket, remembering how her Aunt had done so with her cousin as a baby, then scooped the kid up. She turned around and briefly placed her hand on Din's arm. He nodded his head, signaling for her to start heading out. Without missing a beat, she did just that with Din following closely behind.

Amreen's mind was going a mile a minute. Her concentration was focused on making sure the three of them got out of this alive. Yet, there was a voice at the back of her mind insistently screaming at her. Years of her following the Guild's code, adhering to what was expected from guild hunters. She just walked all over it. As they cut through the building taking out any troopers they come across, Amreen had to bite on her lip at what Halir would think of this. She had never seen him deal with bounties that involved kids. While he did adhere to the code, she couldn't help but feel that he would be on the same page as her. Would he have gone about this a different way? Possibly. However for Amreen, she felt there was _no_ other way to save the kid.

As they neared their exit, Amreen clutched the bundle closer to her chest. The kid had been very quiet during their escape, possibly still feeling the effects of what Pershing had done to him. She glanced down briefly and saw that the kid's eyes were barely open, his gaze was soft and calm. As if he knew that they were saving him. That he wouldn't have to worry about what the Imps would do to him. _They would have killed him,_ she thought to herself after recalling what Pershing had told them.

" _If it wasn't for me he would already be dead."_

Amreen bit back a curse, relieved when they finally made it out of the client's hideout. The patrol would be back at any moment. After scouting out the area, Din motioned her forward and they began the trek towards the Crest. The sun had already dipped behind the horizon. Night had fallen over the quaint town. They reached the market that had already been emptied, creating an eerie silence that made Amreen uneasy. Usually by this time, sellers would lock up their shops and return home after a day's work. The only ones who were occupying the streets were other hunters. Amreen felt her entire body tense as they passed these individuals. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see them staring down them both.

It didn't take long before she noticed more hunters appearing taking notice of them. Amreen inched closer to Din as they continued to walk, "They know, Din," she whispered.

He made no move to look behind him, Din only touched her arm to signal for her to keep up with him. "Just stay close to me."

Amreen only nodded, feeling a sense of comfort when he kept his hand on her arm. She pulled the blanket more snug to the kid's chest, hoping to cover his face as much as possible without disturbing him. She cast a look over her shoulder, seeing that the group following them had grown bigger in just a few minutes. She faced forward, her feet starting to pick up the pace. "They're following us, Din."

"I know." Din gave her arm a small squeeze, taking note on the number of hunters that were gathering around them. It was enough to assure him that this wasn't going to be an easy job like he had hoped.

They finally made it to the center of the market, the town's archway just a few feet in front of them. Unfortunately, it was blocked off by Greef Karga and multiple groups of hunters. Amreen stopped and took a moment to look around, they were completely surrounded by Guild members. All of them had their blasters aimed on them, ready to shoot if Greef gave the order to.

"I have to say that I am quite disappointed in you both," Greef called out to them.

 _Fuck,_ Amreen slowly moved her free hand to her thigh holster, her fingers brushing over her weapon.

"There's no need for that." Greef waved at the gesture. "I'm here to settle this as calmly and rationally as possible."

"Move," Din said. "We're going to my ship."

"If you put the kid down then I might let you two go."

Din shook his head, "The kid's coming with us."

"Those Imps were going to kill him," Amreen said, cutting off Greef before he could say anything. "And you think that's completely fine?"

Greef merely nodded at Amreen's words, not fully taking into account what she had said. "I can see you two care very much for the kid, but if you both really cared about him, you'll put the kid down on the speeder and we'll discuss terms."

Amreen eyed the speeder out the corner of her eye, then focused her sights back on Greef. "You'll just take him from us."

"How are we supposed to trust you?"

"Because I'm your only hope."

Amreen felt a breath hitch in her throat as she took one more look at the blaster aimed at them. She and Din have fought their way out of sticky situations before. But this was different. Then, it was just the two of them, now they had the kid to consider. What if the kid got caught in the crossfire and got injured… or worse? How could they live with themselves? Amreen glanced up at Din as he turned to her. With a tilt of his helmet, she slowly made her way over to the speeder. There's no way Din was actually considering handing this kid over to them. Greef couldn't be trusted, not with this.

Amreen wanted to say something but kept her lips shut for fear that the others would hear their conversation. But she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She glanced down at the child in her arms, using it as a cover to sneak a look at Din's hand. He allowed his one arm to hang down in a casual manner, his hand hovering over his holster, then he gently brushed his thumb against his blaster.

Knowing he was looking at her, Amreen gave a single nod as they came to a stop at the speeder. She gently placed the kid down, her hand gently caressing the blanket as the kid opened his eyes to look up at them. A small coo slipped past his lips. They were really about to risk it all for this little guy. To make up for handing him over to Imps, to apologize for ever leaving him there in the first place. For not coming to their senses sooner. This act of saving him from the Imps was going to be the first of many apologies. But they were willing to take the risk. Anything to keep the kid safe.

Din pulled his blaster out and fired off a shot into the crowd. Amreen quickly jumped over the edge of the speeder and landed on her back. Blaster bolts were being fired in every direction, some hitting the side of the speeder, others hitting the wall of the building behind them. Amreen reached for the kid and pulled him closer to her, shielding the small bundle with her body, as Din jumped into the speeder and settled on his stomach.

"We need to get out of here!" Amreen called above the noise. One of the bolts flew right over her head, cursing her to flinch and duck down.

Din had his eye on the astromech that was used to control the speeder, "Drive," he commanded. The droid refused the command but Din pulled his blaster out and aimed at it, "Drive!" With that, the speeder took off.

Amreen pulled her blaster out and fired off shots each time she had a safe window to do so. She couldn't quite fathom that this was actually happening. They were traitors of the Guild. Not only that but now the Empire will surely want the kid back and will do anything to achieve it. Amreen ducked her head down when one of the blasts hit the droid, causing the speeder to come to a halt. She reached into her belt and pulled out one of her grenades. Amreen pressed the detonator, peaked her head up enough and tossed the grenade into the gathering crowd. She ducked back down and covered the kid with her body. The explosion was strong enough to shake the speeder, multiple bodies were sent flying in various directions. She could hear several of the hunters screaming, either in pain or horror at seeing their fellow hunters be killed by one of their own.

Din was quick to reach for his rifle. Through an opening, he pointed the weapon and started firing off rounds. While Din used his rifle, Amreen used her blaster to pick off targets. No matter how many she took down, more seemed to come out of nowhere. "Din we might need to come up with another—"

Amreen was cut off when a hand grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her down. Her hand reached out, desperately trying to grab hold of anything. Din was fast to grab hold of her arm, allowing Amreen to kick her assailant in the face. She pulled herself back up, shielding the kid again as Din made one last attempt with his flamethrowing to keep the hunters at bay. But the fuel ran out.

Amreen swallowed down the dread as he ducked down and crawled over until they were huddled together. Blaster bolts flew over their heads, hitting everything around them, chipping the concrete off the buildings. She flinched as some of the debris hit her face. This was it. There was nowhere for them to go, too many of them to successfully shoot their way through, not without one or both of them sustaining an injury. Amreen looked down at the kid, the ensuing fight was effective at waking him. She pulled the blanket close around his face, hoping that it would be enough to shield him of any debris. An ache formed in her throat as the kid looked up at her with half-lidded eyes. The kid had complete trust in them, she could see it in the way he looked at them. She wondered if this kid understood that she had failed him. That her attempt to save his life was all for nothing. There's no way she and Din will be able to walk away unscathed. They betrayed the Guild, punishment would surely follow that. And Amreen had a pretty good feeling as to what that entails for her and Din. And the kid's fate would be sealed by that point.

She looked over at the man next to her. Even with his helmet on, she could feel that sense of defeat rolling off his shoulders. When it came to shooting their way through, they were incredibly lucky with their success. However, now, it appears that their luck has run out when they needed it the most. She hesitated when Din looked over at her. At that moment, a million thoughts were running through her head. There was so much she wanted to say to him, she just wasn't sure what she needed to tell him. "Sorry." Her voice was drowned out by the chaos but Din was able to read it.

Din gave a small shake of the head, she didn't need to say apologize for this. It wasn't just her idea, it was his too. He went along with it, he wanted to save the kid as much as she did and was willing to take the risk. It wasn't her fault. They both failed to save the kid. Din moved his gaze to the kid, his chest aching at the idea of the Guild taking him. That the Imps would soon have possession of him again and he could only imagine what they will do to him. Din reached over and placed his gloved hand over Amreen's wrist. _I'm sorry for not being able to get the three of us out of here._ They were both his responsibility and he failed to get them out of here.

In the distance, Amreen could hear a distinct whistling that was coming closer. The pair glanced up in time to see a grenade charge being fired into the center of the market. Then a swarm of Mandalorian flew over the market archway, firing into the crowd of hunters. Amreen was rendered speechless,she had never seen a group of Mandalorian before. She knew that Din's covert resided on Nevarro, but had never ventured into their territory, never asked him if she could meet them. Their secrecy was vital to their survival and she respected that.

 _How did they know to come?_ She thought to herself when she heard the kid give a small cry. "It's okay," she assured the kid quietly, rubbing soothing circles against the blanket.

"Get out of here!"

Amreen poked her head up to see a rather burly Mandalorian handling a blaster gun and he was talking to Din.

"We're gonna have to relocate the convoy," Din said.

The Mandalorian looked at Din and gave a single nod. "This is the way."

"This is the way." Din jumped out of the speeder, firing off a few rounds before turning to Amreen, he held his hand out to her. "Come on, let's go."

She wasted no time. Amreen picked up the kid, took hold of Din's hand and jumped out of the speeder. The pair made a dash for the Razor Crest. Din hit a button on his vambrace and the ramp opened up. "Get the kid to the cockpit, start up the ship," Din instructed, as they fled onto the Crest.

"Got it." Amreen rushed towards the ladder but stopped when a familiar voice trailed onto the ship.

"Not so fast."

Amreen turned and saw Greef standing in the entryway with his blaster aimed at them. "I tried giving you both a chance to handle this amicably." He shook his head at the pair. "But you two just had to go and break the code." Greef then gestured to the kid with his blaster. "That kid can't be worth all of this trouble."

Amreen clutched the kid close to her as Din subtly moved into the sight of Greef's blaster. "You have the chance to leave, Greef," she said, attempting to bargain with him. "You let us go, this will all be done."

"Just let you two go with a bounty that you _stole_ back?" Greef let out an incredulous laugh, his aim straightening. "You're insane. I'm taking the kid back with me."

Amreen took a step back. "No you're not."

Din then reached for his vambrace and used his grappling hook to grab a hold on a main fixture that housed tibanna gas, releasing enough to create a fog that would cloud Greef's vision. Amreen crouched down as Greef erratically fired off shots, hoping that it would hit one of them. Din raised his blaster, aimed it at Greef and fired off a single shot. The blast hit Greef in the chest, the impact causing him to fall out of the Crest.

Amreen took this as an advantage and hurried up the ladder, being careful not to jostle the kid too much. Once in the cockpit, she placed the kid down in one of the passenger seats and took her place in the pilot's seat. She switched on the ignition and then primed the engines, once those were warmed up she pulled up the landing gear and the Razor Crest took off from Nevarro's surface. As she flew the ship over the mayhem that was still taking place, she could feel her stomach sink at the sight below her. A small hint of guilt billowed within her. All of this was because she and Din chose to take back the kid. She bit down on her lip thinking about the trouble that would surely follow them.

The Crest left the planet's atmosphere, the star speckled backdrop of space was a nice change of scenery. Only then was she able to relax somewhat. Amreen leaned back and rested her head against the pilot's seat. She reached up and pulled her scarf down, taking in long deep breaths. "I can't believe we just did that," she said to herself. The kid made a noise behind her and she swiveled in her chair to look at the kid who was now fully awake and sitting up. "We really just did that, kid."

The child cooed softly and tilted his head at her.

The door to the cockpit slid open and she looked up at Din, despite being covered head to toe, she could see that he was relieved to be away from Nevarro. Din took a moment to check over the kid, glad to find that he had no injury. He glanced over at Amreen. "Are you alright?"

Only after his question did she start to feel a deep ache in her ribs. She winced but nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine." Amreen pressed a hand to her ribs and blew out a breath. _So much for taking it easy._ "What do we do now?"

"We find somewhere suitable to lay low for a while."

Amreen nodded, easy enough for a plan. However, finding the best place to settle might prove to be a challenge. She eyed him for a moment, then asked, "We just screwed ourselves over, didn't we?"

Din remained silent, not knowing how to answer her question. The fight for the child wasn't over. Din knew that the Guild would put a price on their heads. He was hoping if they got far enough away from Nevarro, it would make it more difficult for anyone to find them. After a moment, he approached her and stood next to the pilot seat, "Pull up the navigation map, let's find a place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait y'all! Quarantine was pretty crazy. Then I went back to work mid-June and I got promoted a week after returning, so my life has been rather hectic these last few months! But I made this chapter a little long for y'all! I hope you enjoy it!


	6. Refuge

Deciding on where to go was a tiring endeavor. The initial scan provided a list of planets that would have sufficed but Din was quick to dismiss the choices. Either too many star ports or high populations. They needed a planet with minimal population and didn't see too many visitors. After initiating a deep scan, Amreen saw a familiar name appear on the system. Uldu. She felt her stomach jump. She knew a place on Uldu that could provide them refuge. Someone who would undoubtedly help them in their desperate need for help. But when she went to suggest the planet to Din, Amreen decided against it. They both were on the run from the Guild and the Empire, she didn't want to bring that kind of trouble to Uldu.

No, she wasn't going to have all of that blood on her hands. Amreen ignored the planet on the navigation system, focusing her attention on any other planet that would be a suitable settlement.

The kid was awfully quiet during their search. He was rather content with playing with the metal ball fixture that Din had given back to him early on in their flight. It took a distinct metal _clink_ hitting the floor to make them turn their attention to the kid. He was sitting up in one of the passenger seats, the fixture had fallen onto the floor which Din was quick to use his foot to stop the fixture from rolling about the cabin. They eyed the kid for a moment before Din bent down to pick up the fixture. He offered it back to the kid, he let out a measly coo and turned away from the offering.

That was very odd. The kid was rather fond of the fixture only a moment ago. "You don't want it anymore?" Amreen asked. She glanced up at Din as he straightened his back. Her eyes focused back on the kid. "What's wrong?"

The kid's tiny claws opened and closed before he reached his arms up. Oh. Amreen got up from the pilot seat and scooped up the kid, allowing him to nestle in the crook of her arm. "Are you tired?"

The kid simply stared up at her.

She mulled over what could have caused the kid's sudden change in mood. A look of dismay crossed her features when a thought came to her. "Do you-do you need to get _changed_?" She looked at Din who's shoulders tensed at the prospect. Surely, if he needed to be changed he would have made more of a fuss, right? There was one way to find out. Amreen resituated the kid in her hold until both hands were holding him under his arms. She raised him up in front of her, allowed the kid to hover there for a moment, before leaning in a bit closer and sniffing a couple of times. Amreen felt absolutely ridiculous, especially when she saw the way Din's helmet tilted to the side.

" _He must think I'm absolutely crazy."_

But she could recall vivid memories of her Aunt doing the same thing when her cousin was an infant. Amreen sniffed a few more times and was relieved when there was no offensive smell lingering. She hummed to herself as she allowed the kid to lay in her arm again. "Maybe he's hungry?" She said out loud, this time directing the statement to Din.

"He hasn't eaten since Arvala." Din pointed out, rolling the fixture in his hand and offered it to the kid one more time. He was only met with disinterest. Yeah, the kid must be hungry.

"Right." Not to mention the kid's appetite might be a bit out of sorts after his time with Pershing. It made her skin crawl not knowing what they did to him. "Well, maybe we have something he could eat." She mentally ran through what they had left in their inventory. Dried fruits, packaged meats-her nose wrinkled at the choices. Maybe something that was easier for the little guy to digest. "What about canned mash, that might be easier for him to eat."

Din nodded in agreement, "We should still have some from our last restock."

"You sure it would be okay for him to eat that?"

Din only stared at her in silence, his helmet then fell to the side. "We watched him eat a live frog."

The kid let out a low coo, acting as sort of a response to Din's words. "Yeah, you seemed alright after eating that." She gave a kid a little bounce, smirking as he let out a small laugh. That settles it then. "Okay, I'll go ahead and feed him. You keep searching the navigation map, let me know if you find something."

Amreen exited the cockpit and held the kid close to her chest as she descended the ladder into the cargo hold. The kid was cooing quietly as Amreen walked about the hull. He seemed to know that she was going to make the growling in his stomach disappear.

"I hear you," she gently bounced him in her arm and walked over to Din's bed- _cot_. She switched on the light and set the kid down on the mat. "I'll get you some food, okay?" The kid raised his arm up to her. "Just give me a minute." She gently dissuaded the kid's reach, turning around to start searching through their inventory. True to Din's word, there was a decent amount of canned mash left over. Amreen pulled out a can, peeled the lid open, and dumped out a good portion onto a small plate. She stopped until the can was almost half empty, the last thing she wants is to overfeed the little guy.

She must have been taking her time. The kid began to grow antsy as the food was heating up. The small cries only got more consistent and louder. Amreen answered this by nodding her head, "I know, it's almost done." She tried to tune out the kid's cries, knowing that he was being fussy because he was hungry. Still, an antsy infant was enough to make anyone nervous. The food was soon done. She pulled the plate from the heater and began stirring it, hoping to cool it down enough for the kid to eat. Amreen walked over to where the kid was waiting for her. He reached a hand out to the plate, eager to eat whatever she was offering him. Amreen was quick to draw the plate back, "You need to let it cool down, don't want it to burn your mouth." She continued to stir the mash while trying to ignore the kid's incessant cries. He reached up again, his tiny claw barely grazed over her hand and he let out a quiet wail when she drew the plate away. "Okay, okay." Amreen went to sit on one of the storage containers. "You're an eager little guy, aren't you?"

The kid wasted no time as he tried to climb onto her leg. Amreen moved one of her hands to steady the kid, "What are you doing?" She placed the plate down next to her so that she could pick up the kid and sit him back down on the cot. When she picked the plate back up and turned around, the kid was trying to climb onto her lap again. "Come on, kid." Again, she sat the kid back on the cot. "You need to sit and eat, okay?"

The kid's ears dropped, silently watching as Amreen scooped a good amount onto the fork. Amreen brought the fork to the kid who turned his head away, gently pushing the fork away.

The action forced Amreen into silence. She could only stare at the kid, feeling somewhat offended that he was now rejecting the food he had only been crying for a few moments ago. "Are you kidding me?" Amreen narrowed her eyes as the kid looked at her. She could only guess as to the reason for the sudden mood shift. She tried offering it to him again, only to have the kid turn his head away. She drew back the fork and leaned away, "All because I won't let you sit on my lap?"

The kid didn't seem like he was willing to relent. Perhaps that was the way the others fed him. She has no idea what his routine was like before she and Din entered the picture. If the kid was that insistent on sitting in her lap in order to eat, maybe that's what he was used to. Even though she shouldn't reward this kind of behavior, the kid is hungry and if he doesn't eat now they will be hearing about it later on.

Dropping the fork onto the plate, she breathed out a tired sigh, part of her not wanting to give into the kid's demands. But she relented. "Fine." Amreen set down the plate then picked up the kid, allowing him to sit on her lap and nestle against the crook of her arm. "Better?" A small coo was the only answer she got. " _This better work,"_ she thought as she scooped up a small forkful of mash and brought it to the kid's mouth. He happily took the food, his ears perking with content. She could only huff out a laugh. "That easy, huh?"

At least the kid was eating. Amreen was willing to allow this to slide for now. "This isn't going to work next time." She professed as she scooped up a bit more and fed it to the kid. "Don't get used to it." The kid chirped as he chewed away, reaching for the fork in an effort to get another bite. "Okay, you don't want to eat too fast." Amreen had to grab a hold of his hand to prevent him from making a mess. As dinner progressed, the kid started to settle down, content with eating away. Amreen became so engrossed by the task at hand. It required a bit of concentration. Discouraging the kid from trying to grab handfuls of mash, guiding him on how to properly eat from the fork. It was a lot of work. Work she never expected to perform. However, the kid wasn't too much of a handful. He got the routine down rather quickly.

Before she knew it, the plate was empty and the kid let out a small sigh. "You good?" She asked as she wiped away a bit of the mash that had gotten on his cheek. Standing up with the kid in her arm, Amreen quickly cleaned up the plate and put away the leftover mash. "You'll get to eat that later," She promised after seeing the kid reach for the can. "You don't want to overeat."

In response, the kid let out a small burp.

Amreen smirked, "See what I mean?"

"Hey," Din's voice filtered down the ladder and into the cargo hold. Amreen approached the ladder and glanced up, seeing him staring down at them. "I think I might have found a place."

"Perfect timing." Amreen held the kid close as she ascended the ladder. As she reached the top, Din took a hold of her arm and helped her through the hatch.

"Did everything go alright?"

"Yeah," Amreen gave the kid a little bounce. "He wasn't _that_ difficult." She said as she turned towards the cockpit. Upon entering, Amreen set the kid down in one of the passenger seats, then settled up next to Din as he took his place in the pilot seat. "What did you find?"

Din pressed a few buttons and the navigation map popped up. The screen highlighted one of the planets as a panel of information popped up alongside it. "Sorgan?" Amreen read aloud, then inched back to look down at her feet just in time to see the kid walking around the hatch's floor. "What are you doing?"

The kid let out a small gurgle as he waddled around the other side of Din, effectively leaving her line of sight. Din's helmet tilted down as he watched the kid walk about, eyeing him carefully as he climbed onto the side panel. The pair watched the kid a few more moments, ensuring that he wasn't trying to mess with or getting into anything.

When the kid finally settled, Din returned his focus to the navcomp, "I filtered out the search," he turned his head slightly as Amreen leaned closer to the screen. "It's a quiet planet, no starports, no industrial plants, low population density."

"Only a few settlements," she commented after scanning through the information. "They're dispersed throughout the planet, that should give us plenty of leeway."

"It's a real backwater skughole."

She nodded in agreement but her silence garnered Din's attention. There was a look of uncertainty clouding her eyes. The way her teeth bit down on her lip, how her eyes narrowed at the navcomp in front of her. A common sight that has become all too familiar for him. That look of painful uncertainty. It rubbed off onto him too. A million questions started running through his head. Would Sorgan be safe enough for them to settle? Was it far enough to be overlooked by anyone who might be trying to find them? Possibly. Was there a possibility someone on Sorgan could find them and turn them over? Another possibility. While the odds were stacked against them, Din was cautiously optimistic about their choice of refuge. His main priority was getting Amreen and the kid somewhere safe. Din's helmet gave a small jolt once he realized how long he had been staring at her. He shifted in his seat and stared down at the navcomp, hoping that she didn't notice it. Her continued silence was his answer to that. "If you don't trust it," his voice sounded hoarse, wavering a bit towards the end. He quickly cleared his throat, "We can search again."

Amreen inhaled a breath and peered out at the spacious galaxy that surrounded them. Nothing about Sorgan gave her a bad feeling, per se. It was the feeling of not knowing how all of this was going to blow up in their faces. "No, it's the perfect choice." She said before leaning away from the navcomp. "We need to land the Crest, get out of space as soon as possible."

That settled it.

Din said nothing more, but was acutely aware of the breath he was holding as she brushed past him to take her seat. It was just nerves. It will settle once they land. He quietly prepared their course for Sorgan, but found himself silently agreeing with her previous statement. They needed to get somewhere, quickly. He didn't want to take any chances now that they were wanted by the Guild and the Empire. The faster they got to Sorgan, the easier it would be for him to keep the kid and Amreen safe.

As the Crest prepared its descent, Amreen took the opportunity to prepare for their scouting. They were going to take up temporary residence on Sorgan. Amreen knew that the first thing Din would want to do is find suitable lodgings. She retreated to the ship's cargo hull, deciding against bringing a bag along. It shouldn't take them too long, and Din was going to land the crest close to a settlement. The trek would be short and, hopefully, finding a safe place to hunker down will be easy. She checked over her blaster before settling it into her holster. She pulled a pair of gloves from a compartment and tugged them over her hands, then secured the scarf around her neck.

From the opening of the hatch, Amreen could hear Din's voice filtering down the ladder and into the cargo hold. She walked over to the ladder, craning her ear in an attempt to hear what was being said.

" _Her and I are going to find some lodgings, then we will come back for you. You stay right here, you stay. Don't move. Understand?"_

Was he talking to the kid? Amreen stepped back from the ladder as Din began his descent into the cargo hold. When he turned around, he was met with a wide smirk on Amreen's end. It caught him off guard. "What?"

"You really just tried to reason with an infant?" Her smirk grew at the barely audible sigh that emitted from the man as he went to pass her. She followed after him, trying her best to hold back the laugh caught in her throat. "You think you managed to get through to him?" She asked.

"I think I did." Din answered while prepping his vambrace. The silence that followed was enough to garner his attention. Barely turning his head to look at her, the smirk was still there but it was followed by a shake of her head and a small laugh. Usually, he would have said something else in his own defense. However, there was nothing about this reaction that jump started that familiar urge. If anything, Din could feel his cheeks growing warm. Instead, he focused on preparing the Crest's security protocols.

"The kid is pretty smart, for an infant," She commented while pulling up the scarf to her face. "Hope he listens to you."

The cargo ramp began to open. Amreen took in the immediate sight of Sorgan's forest, smiling again for a different reason. The scenery was familiar to her. Brought back memories of her home in Chandrila. Sometimes she missed the sprawling forests that she and her brother frequented as kids. Suddenly, a small noise appeared next to her. She glanced down and saw the child standing between her and Din. So much for listening to Din. When she glanced up at the man in question, he was already staring down at the kid.

Amreen eyed Din for a moment, seeing the way his helmet tilted back which was followed by a long drawn out sigh. She couldn't help the laugh this time.

"What the hell, come on."

"It won't be that bad." Amreen said to Din as he walked down the ramp. She took a step onto the ramp, pausing to glance down at the kid by her feet, smiling when he looked up at her. "Come on."

Despite the kid's eagerness, it took him a bit of time to waddle down the Crest's ramp. Amreen made sure to take slow steps, encouraging the kid whenever he would stumble or lose his balance. The kid seemed quite happy when his feet touched the forest bed. For a moment, Amreen wondered if the kid had ever experienced anything other than the desert landscape of Arvala. The sheer wonderment in the kid's eyes as he took in everything around him was enough of an answer for her. The kid wanted to look at every tree and flower that he came across. She smiled at his curiosity only to have it wane from a sudden wave of sadness. What was this little guy's life before she and Din waltzed in? The group who were guarding him on Arvala, were they protecting him from the Empire as well? Or did they take him away from others who _were_ protecting him? _Maker,_ she wished that they had more answers on where this kid came from. Was there someone out there looking for him as well? His parents, or other family members. Did they think he was dead?

A small squeal caught her attention. Amreen saw the kid staring up at her, his one claw grasping at a flower. She smiled again, glancing up when she heard Din clear his throat. "Come on," she said lightly. "He's allowed to explore a little bit."

The t-visor ducked down at the kid who was idly playing with the flower that had caught his eye. Din took a quick look around them. The village was only a few feet away from them, but it was still rather quiet. The datapad showed a low population density which meant they were in no real danger at the moment. If anything, Din could let the kid explore for just a moment, there was no harm in that. He could let the kid actually be a _kid._ The duo kept their eye on him, watching as he explored the forest bed and chasing after the various insects he came across. Almost catching one before it managed to slip through his claw and hop away. The kid looked up at Amreen and then to Din, giving the insinuation that he was waiting for them to do something about it.

Amreen craned her head to look down at the kid, "You want us to catch it?" She laughed as the kid tilted his head at her, almost like an affirmation to her question. "I don't think we have time for that." Although, the thought of Din trying to catch an insect for the kid was quite amusing for her.

"Let's go." Din's word was final, his voice the usual stern tone to it but Amreen noted the small hint of regret. Perhaps he didn't want to take the kid away from this activity. But they needed to find a place to settle here.

When she glanced down at the kid, his ears had dropped halfway but his eyes somewhat hopeful as he looked up at Amreen. She gave the kid a small smile, "Sorry, kid, but we have to get settled." She started after Din, pausing when she realized the little guy wasn't following her. "We'll let you explore more later, okay?"

That seemed to satisfy the kid enough.

Low population density almost seemed like an understatement. When they entered the town's main hub, Amreen was struck at how empty and quiet everything was. That is until they stepped into the local cantina. It appeared as if a good portion of the town had decided to stuff themselves into this one building. The walls of the hut were aligned with booths that were occupied. The trio did garner some attention, not as much as Amreen had expected. Usually, Din would attract the most attention wherever they went. It wasn't every day that a Mandalorian stalked his way through a quiet settlement. But most seemed to be curious about the little green kid toddling alongside her. They've probably never seen one of his species before, _Maker_ knows she hasn't.

The kid had wandered a bit away from Amreen, waddling towards a Loth-cat he spotted resting underneath one of the tables. Amreen caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, her head snapping to the side, eyes staring down the child as he approached the creature. Before she could voice a warning to him, the Loth-cat turned its attention to him and let out a sharp growl. The kid stumbled back, letting out a small squeal at the sudden reaction. The kid didn't sustain any injury, he was just a little spooked. But she felt a small pressure against her boot. Glancing down, she saw the kid was sticking close to her leg, his one hand grasping for the straps of her boot.

Amreen paused momentarily to bend down and pick up the kid, settling him in the crook of her arm. He relaxed immediately, one of his little claws clung onto her thumb. "They're rather temperamental creatures." Amreen whispered to the kid, earning a curious look from the bundle in her arms. "They aren't very nice, huh?"

The kid gave a low coo, his own way of agreeing to her statement.

Din finally stopped at an empty table and Amreen took that as the cue. She placed the kid down on one of the high chairs, but paused when she saw that Din was still standing next to her. Amreen peered into his visor while he gave the slightest head tilt, gesturing to something behind them. She glanced down to check through her belt compartments, using the cover of her hair to sneak a glance across the room. A lone woman sitting at one of the booths was staring down the two of them. But Amreen was quick to notice the shock trooper tattoo on her left arm. Curious, what was a shock trooper doing on a planet like Sorgan? She straightened her back and looked back into Din's visor, raising an eyebrow at him before turning towards the bar counter.

Amreen had to squeeze in between two people to claim a spot at the counter, completely ignoring the glares she received from the individuals. _"Then don't take up all the space,"_ she gave one of them a tilt of the head, rolling her eyes at them when they scoffed at her. So much for a friendly first impression. From behind the counter, Amreen was approached by a young woman with brown cropped hair, this time she was greeted with a smile. She went to smile back, only to remember that her scarf was still covering her face.

"Can I get you anything?"

Amreen shook her head before gesturing to the table behind her. "They might want something though." The woman peered behind Amreen's shoulder, her eyebrows raising at the sight of a Mandalorian sitting at one of the tables. "He's nice," Amreen offered after seeing the look in her eyes, understanding how Din could be seen as an intimidating figure. "I promise."

While the tension was still noticeable, the woman offered Amreen a quick smile before leaving the confines of the bar and making her way towards Din and the kid. Amreen stayed behind, her focus casually shifted to eye the shock trooper who had been eyeing them down the entire time. She could see the woman still in the same place, Amreen felt an itch pop up in the back of her mind. A part of her wanted to go over and converse with the woman but she was distracted by a small ruckus that had ensued behind her. Some kind of scuffle that had sparked up between some of the occupants. Amreen spotted one of them, a young woman with dirty blond hair pulled back into a high bun, and a distinct scar across her right cheek. Her stomach immediately lurched at the familiarity of this individual. The woman in question gathered herself, pushing one of the other guilty party members away from her. _"That has to be Adine."_ Amreen watched the group a while longer, hoping to get a better look at the woman's face. Instead, the woman in question found herself staring down Amreen, the latter quickly pulled her gaze away, silently hoping that she didn't catch onto it. But it was long enough for Amreen to get a better look at the woman. And her initial identification was correct. _"That's definitely Adine."_ Amreen closed her eyes briefly, working on easing the tension that had suddenly built up in her shoulders. _"What the hell was she doing on Sorgan?"_ Regardless of the reasoning, there was no use in finding out. They came here to lay low and stay under the radar, catching up with old acquaintances was the last thing on her mind.

Amreen let out a deep breath, glancing over her shoulder to find that the shock trooper was now gone. She turned to look back at Din, just in time to see him going for the exit.

"Stay with the kid." He was quick to tell her before slipping out of the common house.

" _Dammit,"_ she cursed under her breath as she broke away from the counter and walked back over to the table. The kid was quietly sitting in his seat, his little hands trying to reach for the bowl broth in front of him. Amreen tapped her fingers against the table, her eyes glued on the entrance in anticipation. That shock trooper is trouble they don't need, why did he have to go after her? A small cry forced her to glance down and spot the kid's frustrated attempts at reaching for the bowl. She pushed the bowl closer to him, effectively quieting him down as he began to take sips of the broth. After watching the kid for a moment, Amreen found herself staring at the entrance again. Something didn't feel right. "You think we should go see?" She asked and looked down at the kid. He seemed curious about her words, even tilting his head at her. "I don't always listen to him anyways."

The kid hummed before proceeding to drink from his bowl.

That seemed to settle it.

Amreen picked up the kid, making sure to hand him his bowl of broth, and then stalked out of the common house. Now, a new predicament, which way did he go? "Which way should we go first?" Her question was only met with a measly coo, the kid was too preoccupied with his broth. "Alright, then." She picked a random direction and then headed off.

It didn't take long before Amreen found two sets of footprints. One of them definitely appeared to be Din, she's gotten good with distinguishing his footprints from others. Given the several occasions where they were split up, whether by choice or not, she's had to sharpen this skill in order to rendezvous with him on those jobs. One such occasion involved a hypothermic Amreen struggling to find her way back to the Crest after she and Din were separated during an ambush. She accidentally came across a set of Din's prints and followed them until she was safely back at the Razer Crest. That job was not a highlight in their partnership.

Amreen continued to follow these footprints which led her through a backway route behind several huts. It was then that she could hear the noise of some sort of scuffle ensuing. She picked up her pace and peeled around the corner of one of the huts. There was Din on the dirt throwing down with the shocktrooper. The woman was crouched on top of Din, her one foot painfully pressing down on his vambrace.

" _Dammit."_ Of course, Din would have gone and gotten himself into trouble.

Amreen was quick to act. She carefully placed the kid down and charged after the pair. As she came in close, she wrapped her arms around the woman's torso and pushed her over. The two rolled onto the ground, the action caused a hot flash of pain to flare in her ribs. The sensation clouded her vision, knocking all the air out of her lungs. As she tried to gain back her breath, an arm wrapped around her neck in a choke hold, pulling her back against a mass behind her. Panic set in. Amreen reached back with one of her hands in an effort to get out of this hold. A hand gripped her wrist and pulled back, locking Amreen's arm in a painful grip. The arm around her neck tightened. She tried to use her remaining hand to do… something. Anything to get this woman off of her. The woman yanked on her one arm again while tightening around her neck one more time, this time Amreen let out a strained cry.

"That's enough."

A stern modulated voice broke through Amreen's clouded mind. Through her blurry vision, she could make out the image of Din on his feet with his blaster pointed right at them.

"We don't want any trouble."

"You're bounty." The woman spoke up.

"We're not here for you." Din replied, holding up his free hand in a peaceful gesture. He casted a quick glance behind him, the kid had watched the entire thing, unbothered and happily drinking away at the bowl of broth. "You want some soup?" He calmly offered. "Let's talk, just let my friend go."

It took a moment but the hold around Amreen's neck finally loosened and the painful grip on her arm finally disappeared. She sucked in a deep painful breath, coughing at how dry and sore her throat felt. Turning onto her side, she rose to her hands and knees inhaling and exhaling deep breaths, desperately trying to ignore the searing ache billowing under her ribs. _Fuck_ , again, this is what she gets for trying to help Din get out of trouble. Granted, she could have just left him to deal with it. _"Force of habit."_ She thought to herself. When she looked up and saw the shocktrooper staring down at her, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I was just trying to get you off of him."

The woman raised an eyebrow at the comment, somewhat amused by Amreen's comment, "That was a pretty good tackle though." After a moment of consideration, she offered a hand to her which Amreen took without much of a fuss.

* * *

Cara Dune.

That is how the shock trooper introduced herself to the pair once they were seated back in the common house. With her ribs now aching, Amreen tried distracting herself with a round of _spotchka_ that was graciously given to their party upon their return. However, Amreen was the only one to partake in the indulgence of the woman's hospitality. She tried her to best stay present within the conversation that was unfolding before her. There were only a few important details that stuck out to her. Cara served as a shock trooper for the Rebellion and the New Republic. If Amreen heard her correct, she racked up quite a masterlist of experience, including hunting down ex-Imperial Warlords following the Battle of Endor. That particular fact was strong enough to pull on Amreen's interest.

"Endor was pretty messy," Amreen poured herself another round, gently patting away the kid's hand as he went to reach for the pitcher. But she winced at her choice of words, "At least, from what I heard." It was mostly information she heard passed around cantina's and the Guild. She wasn't much for listening in on gossip, but this particular subject always earned her attention. Her only interest came from wanting to hear any familiar names who may have fought in the battle.

"I only knew what was passed around with the other troopers, as I said, the real action all happened after Endor. They wanted something done nice and quiet… that's where we came in. But when we took care of all the Imps that's when the politics started coming in. They had us protecting delegates, suppressing riots." She paused and eyed the pitcher of _spotckha,_ raising her eyebrows at Amreen who was more than happy to pour her a round. "Peacekeepers, that's what they called us. Made us think that was the highest honor we could obtain, not what I signed up for." Cara took the cup and downed the whole thing in one breath.

"What made you come to Sorgan?" Din asked.

The question seemed to poke at a nerve. Amreen saw the way the sides of her lips twitched. "Call it an early retirement." She finally settled on an answer.

"Understandable," Amreen quietly offered. "Can't imagine what kind of hell you all witnessed."

Cara hummed in agreement to her words. After a moment, she eyed the duo before her and couldn't help but notice they were definitely an _odd_ pairing. Weren't Mandalorian supposed to be solitary individuals? At least, when it came to traveling. Regardless, she didn't question it. Didn't seem like something that concerned her. "Look, you both are Guild so I figured you had a bounty on me. That's why I came at you both so hard."

Din nodded, "Yeah, I figured that."

The only acknowledgement Amreen gave was a strained groan. That caught Cara's attention. "I know I said that I came at you both hard, but I don't think it was enough to make you this uncomfortable."

Amreen gave a small wave of her hand, "This wasn't you. Mudhorn."

The answer made Din's body go still. He slowly turned his head to look at Amreen, noting the way she held herself with discomfort.

"Mudhorn?" Cara's voice pitched up a level but her eyes gave off a rather impressed look. "Got tossed around a bit, huh?"

"Yeah, just _a bit._ "

She never noticed him staring at her, but Din could only mentally curse at himself. He knew there was something wrong when they were on Arvala. She said that she was fine. He bought it. But that clearly wasn't the case.

Cara smirked as she stood up from the table, "Listen, I appreciated the talk but one of us is gonna have to leave and I was here first." She finished what was left of her soup, then set the bowl down before leaving the trio in silence.

That went a lot better than either of them expected. Throwing aside their first interactions with her, Amreen rather liked Cara. Or at least, had enough respect for her that made it easier to not be annoyed at the gnawing ache in her ribs right now. Still, Cara's last words to them, while not threatening, the message rang loud and clear. And the last thing Din and Amreen want is for a pissed off ex-shock trooper to come after them. It's trouble they certainly don't want or need. They would have to leave Sorgan, which also meant having to find another suitable location to settle on. Amreen wasn't too keen on traveling again but it didn't seem like they had much of a choice.

With all of the _spotchka_ having been consumed, Amreen felt her shoulders slump with exhaustion. She allowed her head to hang down for a moment, flinching when she felt a tiny hand brush past her arm. Raising her head up a bit, she watched as the kid reached for the bowl of soup in front of her. She wordlessly pushed the bowl over to him, sighing when he let out a little chirp as he drank the cooled broth.

"There's a woman who has been staring at you this entire time."

Din's words made her glance up at him, his one arm bent and resting on the table, completely relaxed. It was the way his finger twitched in a direction behind her. Amreen didn't need to glance back to know who he was talking about. "Yeah, I know."

"Do you know her?

A nod. "I knew her a bit back. Noticed her earlier when we first arrived." The silence from Din was loud, the visor of his helmet leveled with her gaze. _"Then why did you say anything."_ She tilted her head at the shift in his mood. "Why do you think I have my back towards her?" She pulled the scarf back up over her nose and mouth. "It's fine, we're not even staying here."

….

When the kid had finished his second bowl, the pair high tailed it out of the common house. Amreen made sure she didn't so much as look in Adine's direction. She had hoped to slip away without the woman noticing. And they were successful in that endeavor.

Despite the fact that the Crest was just a short walk away, their trek back was grueling on her aching body. She kept herself at an easy pace, the kid was able to keep up with her stride while Din slowed several times in order for her to catch up. Luckily he never voiced his annoyance, _Maker_ knows that she would have clocked him on the side of the helmet if he did. He slowed down again, for what seemed like the fifth time, then walked in sync with her, making sure to leave room between them for the kid to walk.

"Did you get checked out?"

The sudden question nearly gave her whiplash. She careened her head to look over at him, at first confused, but her mind calmed and realization hit her. "Yes, Arla checked me out."

"The damage?"

She sighed at his question, wincing when she felt her ribcage expand. "Bruised ribs, nothing is broken."

Silence. Amreen refused to say anything else. She could only surmise that he was attempting to gather himself. No use in annoying him with excuses.

"You never said anything."

"No, I didn't."

Her answer made him stop dead in his tracks, and she found herself staring up into the visor of his helmet. For a moment, she could feel herself shrink back but stood her ground against him. She raised an eyebrow at him, silently daring him to say anything else.

"You could have made your injury worse."

"And you're the one to lecture me about taking care of myself." The was really rich coming from Din. "I've seen you go hours, even days, with injuries worse than mine." Din's whole body shifted, his head lulling to the side, almost like he was rolling his eyes at her. That aggravated her to no end. Amreen pushed him against the shoulder, his head snapping back to level his gaze with hers. "Don't fucking patronize me, Din."

What a sight this must be for anyone witnessing it. A young woman and a Mandalorian having a little dispute in the middle of the Sorgan forest. Just thinking about it was enough to make them both feel stupid. They snapped back to reality when they heard the kid give a small noise, clearly distraught at seeing the two of them bicker. Din said nothing else about the matter, he only turned around and stalked back towards the Crest, leaving Amreen and the kid to follow.

" _He'll get over it."_ Amreen started after him but couldn't hear the soft shuffling next to her. She stopped to look behind her, seeing that the kid was staring at her with childlike concern. "It's okay, he's not mad," she took a moment to consider her words, then shrugged her shoulder. "I mean, he's not mad at _you._ " This wasn't the only occasion of an instance like this happening. Din and Amreen were two individuals who were too stubborn for their own good. Both mindlessly willing to throw themselves head first into danger, without a care for their own well being. Din couldn't understand why Amreen wasn't willing to be more careful. Funny enough. Amreen always thought the same thing about Din. An endless and vicious cycle of stubbornness that usually ends with both of them annoyed with each other. But it always worked out in the end. This instance was no different from the countless others.

"He'll be okay," she assured the kid, kneeling down so that she was eye level with him. "He just needs a moment to… _calm_ himself." Despite the calm and reassuring tone, the kid still appeared hesitant. His ears tucked down and his little claws closed into fists. "I'm sorry for scaring you." Five words that she heard a couple times throughout her childhood. Seeing her parents argue was never a pleasant experience. Amreen pulled the scarf down from her face, clasping her hands together as she eyed the kid. "Are you tired?" The kid's attention wasn't piqued by her question, but she could tell that he was listening to her. "You had a lot of broth today, and it has been a while since you last slept." The kid was running on a full stomach. And the small yawn that came soon after was enough of an answer for her.

Amreen stood and went to pick the kid up. The kid immediately relaxed in her hold, his head nestling against her arm. She felt her chest flutter. The kid was so innocent. He had only known her and Din for a few days. _A few days._ And he already has so much trust instilled in them. Does he know what they did for him? Is he somehow aware of the amount of people they pissed off in order to keep him safe? Has it gotten through that little mind of his? Or is he blissfully unaware of the danger that is following in their wake? No, it's best that he doesn't know. The kid was too young to deal with that. However, he _was_ fifty years old. Amreen scoffed at the thought when she glanced down at the drowsy bundle in her arms. He may be fifty but he's still a kid-he's still a baby. He deserves to be oblivious.

Arriving at the Crest, she noted that the ramp was already open and she could make out Din's figure moving about the hull. She inhaled a silent breath as she quietly sauntered up the ramp. No words were exchanged between the two of them. Mostly because Din noticed that the kid was dead asleep in Amreen's arms. But all he could do was stare. Something about the sight of her with the kid like that. It stirred that primal protectiveness that had leaked into his chest ever since Nevarro. That manic need to keep both the kid and Amreen safe, which is why he wanted to get them in space as quickly as possible.

As he went to tell her what the plan was, he noticed movement behind Amreen's shoulder. He subtly moved to the side enough to see someone walking towards the Crest. It was the same woman who had been eyeing Amreen back at the common house. On instinct, his hand immediately moved to his blaster. Amreen noticed the movement quick, glancing down to see his thumb brush over the weapon. Her eyes swept up and focused on the visor of his helmet, her eyes narrowing when she saw the slight tilt of his helmet. She had a feeling she knew who it was behind her.

Amreen took a step forward and went to hand the kid over to Din. His helmet snapped down to look at her. "Take the kid," she whispered. "I'll handle this."

Din looked as if he wanted to argue against her, but the slight raise of her eyebrow silenced any effort on his part. With his free arm, Din allowed Amreen to place the kid into his hold, his other hand still resting against his weapon.

He doesn't need to worry about Adine being a threat to them. But for all she knew, Adine might have caught wind of the bounty on their heads. It was risky for Amreen to confront her but something in her gut told her it was fine. Amreen steeled herself then turned around and slowly disembarked the Crest. Sure enough, it was Adine who was making her way towards the ship. She could see the small smirk appear on her face and she felt her stomach twist into a knot.

"I thought that was you, Amreen." Adine's voice, smooth and sharp, still sounded the same as when she last heard her speak all those years ago. "I'll admit, I was kinda hurt when you didn't say anything."

"Didn't want any trouble."

"Now, why would there be trouble?"

Adine was only teasing her. A part of Amreen fully expected for some kind of brawl to ensue. "I didn't know that you would be here. Besides, I wasn't really keen on catching up with old acquaintances." The vice tone in Amreen's voice was unintentional, a result of unchecked uncertainty confronting her after all this time.

Adine's brows creased together, she actually appeared hurt and offended by Amreen's words. "That was a little harsh there. If anything, I should be the one pissed at you. After all, you were the one who left."

Of course, Adine would bring that up. That didn't surprise her one bit. Still, Amreen wasn't in the mood and, frankly, didn't have the time to do this. She went to turn around, wanting to get back on the Crest as fast as possible.

"Amreen," she waited until the hunter turned back around to face her. "I didn't come find you to fight or trudge up hard feelings."

That made the hunter belt out a laugh. "Then, why did you follow me, Adine." There was a reason why Amreen never acknowledged her presence back at the common house. Adine was a smart person who should have gotten the memo.

"You're the first person from our crew that I've encountered in almost ten years." The grim tone in Adine's voice was enough to render Amreen speechless. The way her eyes grew heavy, the casualness in her posture soon turned limp and tired.

"The first person?" Amreen didn't like what those words implied. "You're no longer with Balin and the others?"

The mention of their former leader's name made Adine flinch. "There's a lot you gotta get caught up on." Adine had never looked more tired and rugged than she did at this moment. As if the mere mention of Balin drained her of all of her energy. "No, I'm no longer working with Balin. Leaving Tate behind didn't settle well with everyone." Amreen could feel a breath catch in her throat, her knees went numb and her heart pounded within her chest. She hadn't heard that name in so long. It sliced open an old wound that she worked long to heal. "Half of them agreed with Balin, the other half didn't. And then _you_ left," Adine's voice practically sneered when she mentioned Amreen, it made her blood run cold. "That's when everything started to fall apart. Perry, Nox, and Fel left shortly after you did. They said they wanted to go find Tate, don't know if they managed to or not."

That made sense. Perry, Nox and Fel were close friends with Tate. They were the first ones to voice any objection against Balin's decision to leave Tate behind. "And what about Balin?"

"Not too sure. I've heard a few stories. I heard that he had died on a job, but I've heard others say he was last seen traveling various ports in the mid-rim. Didn't care much to try and find him." Adine gave a mindless shrug, appearing even more exhausted after divulging the details of what had happened to their old crew. "What about you, have you seen Tate?"

Amreen swallowed hard, finding it hard to form the word _no._ It pained her too much to think about how she never went to find him. She slowly shook her head.

"Strange," Adine observed her for a moment. "I thought you would've been the first one to go back for him after you left."

" _You're not the only one who thought that,"_ Amreen cleared her throat, trying to rid of the ache that had formed there. "I didn't think he would want to see me again."

"You might have missed your chance, I don't even know if he's still alive."

That has been one of her biggest fears since leaving Balin's crew. Amreen did consider going out and finding Tate. To apologize for agreeing with leaving him behind. She could still picture him lying on that hospital cot, skin shockingly pale from the blood loss. Barely able to put together coherent sentences. Balin was convinced that he wasn't going to make it. Amreen was terrified of having to watch him die. She didn't want to have to go through losing someone else she cared about. Fear is what drove her to leave with the crew, abandoning Tate at a medical facility. And fear is also what led her to leave her home. She never forgave herself for abandoning Tate. One of the many reasons she left Balin's crew. It was a form of punishment she decided to unleash on herself. "I guess I'll never find out." Amreen found her voice, the words left her mouth a verbal mess. She bit her lip in an effort to control herself. "I don't regret leaving the Sparrow. You can be mad all you want, that's fine with me. But I'm not responsible for the crew falling apart. They made their own choices. That's not my fault."

Adine quietly nodded her head, "Yeah," she glanced past Amreen and saw the figure of a Mandalorian barely peeking through the opening of the Crest's hull. "Looks like you got yourself entangled with another crew."

"It's just the two of us."

"Oh," Adine's brows raised in surprise and curiosity. "Makes it more intimate, huh?" She then smirked. "Seems to be a pattern with you." That small jab felt like a knife had just been stabbed into her chest. "A Mandalorian… that's definitely an upgrade. Curious how long you'll end up staying with this one."

Every part of her body was screaming for her to retaliate. To say something, anything, that would be in defense for her. But there was nothing. Nothing she could come up with that would prove Adine wrong. Instead, Amreen took the verbal punch and was surprised to not see Adine gloating about the remark. If anything, she looked relieved. As if she had been saving those words in the back of her mind for so long. Waiting for the opportunity to tell Amreen what she really thought. If anything, Amreen deserved to hear those words. At least, that's how she felt.

"Take care of yourself, Amreen. And if you ever do find Tate," His name was nothing more than a whisper when it fell past her lips. Amreen was startled to see tears forming in Adine's eyes. She had never seen her display that kind of emotion before. "Tell him I'm sorry."

Amreen merely nodded, watching as Adine turned around and headed back towards the main town. When she was finally out of sight, Amreen exhaled a shaky breath, her entire body was overcome with a chilling ache that nauseated her. Why couldn't Adine have just left her alone? _"I didn't come find you to fight or trudge up hard feelings."_ Well, that's exactly what she did whether she wanted to or not. The two of them never quite got along, they were amicable for the sake of their jobs. Other than that, they never spent a minute in each other's presence if they didn't have to. Tate always told her that it was just the way Adine was. She never really got along with anyone. Everyone tolerated her because she was damn good at her job. Professionally, Amreen held a great respect for her, but the line never went further from that.

But this interaction felt incredibly different. It didn't feel like she was talking to the same person she knew all those years ago. Amreen could only stand there and wonder about what Adine has gone through since she last saw her.

"Amreen."

The sound of Din's modulated voice filled her with a sense of shameful dread. Did he hear any part of their conversation? _Maker,_ she hoped not. The last thing she wanted was for him to be asking any questions about what he might have heard.

The entire length of the two women's conversation, he had kept a sharp eye on Adine, his hand never leaving his blaster. He had taken a quick moment to lay the kid down on his cot before returning to the hull's opening. The way his senses went on alert when Adine looked at him was almost enough to send him bolting out of the Crest. But he stopped himself. This didn't concern him.

He didn't step off the ship until Adine had started heading back towards the town. Din hesitated for a moment before taking another step towards her. He could see the way her body was shaking. He reached his hand up, only to stop mid air and allowing his arm to fall back down to his side. He didn't want to upset her anymore. "Reen."

Hearing that name from him sent a wave of calm through her. Whatever petty little dispute they had earlier was now gone and forgotten about. Tears spilled onto her cheeks which she was quick to wipe away. No, she didn't want him to see her crying. How pathetic would that be? She blinked away the tears in her waterline and then turned to face him. "It's fine. Just catching up with an old acquaintance."

* * *

 **A/N:** Happy New Year, Everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, Everyone.


	7. The Village

They didn’t get to leave Sorgan as quickly as they wanted to. 

After doing a once over of the Crest, Din made the call to stay put to give them time to work on a few repairs. It wasn’t necessarily the news she wanted to hear, however after doing her own glance over, she begrudgingly agreed with him. They settled into their usual quiet routine when it came to performing maintenance. Thankfully, the kid remained fast asleep as they began work on the repairs. Each took turns checking up on the kid every half hour or so. They knew the kid loved to sneak around, they didn’t want him getting into anything he shouldn’t. 

They weren’t sure how long they were working, but when the forest started growing dark that was their sign that it had been a while. Amreen stood and stared out across the vastness of the Sorgan forest, scanning over the silhouette of the trees against the backdrop of the Sorgan sunset. The sight dispersed a familiar warmth within her chest that flowed into her veins. It reminded her a lot of the sunsets on Chandrila. She remembered that her home was situated in the perfect spot for the best view. Days where she and her brother spent sitting on her bedroom balcony, talking about anything and everything as the sun dipped behind the horizon. Their bodies would be overcome with a chill from the drop in temperature. She wondered if he still watched those sunsets. She wondered if he was even still on Chandrila. 

The recollection almost made her forget about the annoying ache that had settled into her ribs. She wanted to continue helping Din with finishing the Crest’s repairs, but it became apparent that wasn’t possible. Her exhaustion grew. Din noticed the faltering in her steps, before calmly suggesting that she get some rest. He would finish up what was left of the repairs, which wasn’t much, and they would be off of Sorgan soon. He silently watched her think about what she wanted to do. Gearing himself up to gently dissuade her from pushing herself too hard. Much to his surprise, she quietly agreed with him. 

“Yeah,” Amreen went to reach for her tool bag, stopping to give Din a glance. “Are you sure?” 

Din messed with the tool in his hand, distracted by how tired her eyes looked. The encounter with Adine did a number on her, not that he ever brought it up after her departure. Amreen’s past wasn’t a subject that was discussed between the two. Only on a few rare occasions would she make a brief mention about some event or individual. However, the mentions were always obscure. He never heard any names or other defining details associated with these mentions. But during her conversation with Adine, Din managed to pick up on a few things. The biggest one being a name, Tate. Given how emotional Adine was by mentioning him, and the way Amreen’s body went still, Din could only surmise that Tate was a rather prominent figure from both of their pasts. And whatever happened to him must not have been good in any way. Their crew had  _ abandoned  _ him? Something about that detail made Din’s skin crawl. Whatever had happened to Tate, it still bothered Amreen and that was easy for Din to figure out. While they worked on repairs, she was focused on whatever was going on in her head. He noticed the way her lips moved in silence as if she was talking to herself. Perhaps reliving what had happened all those years ago. Din had the thought to try and ask her about it, both to ensure she was alright and to satisfy his curiosity. But he immediately scraped the thought. He felt guilty for even thinking of it. Amreen had never pressured him to discuss any aspect of his past. Anything he has shared with her was his own choice and no one else's. She never gave any indication that she wanted to divulge information about her past. She respected his privacy and he was going to return the favor. 

The only thing Din could think to do was get her to take it easy. It may not be much but it’s better than allowing her to completely wear herself down. “There aren’t that many repairs to deal with,” he leaned over to rummage through his tool bag, looking up at her when she didn’t move or respond. “It’s fine,” he calmly reiterated. “I won’t be too long.” For good measure, he nodded at the ship.

“Okay.” Grabbing her tool bag, she stood and meandered onto the Crest, discarding her bag behind one of the storage containers. She checked on the kid who was still snoozing away on Din’s cot. That made her sigh in relief. No doubt he’ll be hungry when he wakes up. But they would cross that bridge once they got here. Until then, she climbed up the hull ladder and settled herself into one of the passenger seats in the cockpit. Ideally, she would have gone to her room, but given they’ll be taking off soon it was easier to settle up in the cockpit. The chair wasn’t comfortable at all, but she was used to making the most out of nothing. At least, when it came to comfortability. Her room on the  _ Sparrow  _ was small and minimal but it was hers to do whatever she wanted with it. She made it as comfortable as she could. Closing her eyes, Amreen could visualize the tracings she made on the walls of her room. Outlines of the rolling hills she always saw on Chandrila, the towering forest that she and her brother frequented as children. Thinking back now, thoughts of home were consistent for Amreen when she first left. It was hard not to think about what she had left behind. 

Sometimes she wished she could go back. To see her family again. But that would never happen. They wouldn’t want to see her again. 

That was the last thought to plague Amreen’s tired mind before she finally succumbed to sleep.

….

It was a firm shake on the shoulder that made Amreen jolt awake with a sharp breath. Her eyes flew open, her vision hazy and unfocused as she scanned everything around her. 

“Take it easy.” A calm voice broke through her mind, settling her panic when she recognized who it was. 

She blinked, her eyes finally focusing and adjusting to the darkness that had filtered into the Crest. “Din,” she asked, her voice scratched from how dry her throat was. Her brow furrowing when she felt him move his hand away from her shoulder, “Are the repairs done?” 

“Finished them a bit ago.” 

A bit ago? Amreen turned her gaze to look out the windows, only to realize that there weren’t any stars that could be seen which meant they were still on Sorgan. “Why haven’t we taken off?” 

“I got us a place to settle here.”

“Here?” Her voice pitched up as she turned her attention on Din who was already stepping through the entryway. “What do you mean you found a place here?” Amreen stood from her seat, swaying a bit until she found her balance, then followed after him. “Cara made it quite clear that she wanted us off this planet.” She called out while climbing down the hull ladder, only to stop when she saw two men unloading compartments from the Crest. They both took notice of her, bowing their heads at her in a quick greeting before continuing with the unloading. That was odd. Amreen took a few steps forward, taking notice of the kid who was sitting on top of one of the compartments. When she moved towards the ramp, she caught Din by the arm as he walked back up, “What the hell is going on, Din?” 

“I told you, I found us a place.”

“And what does that mean for us?” 

Din watched the two villagers conversing with Cara, who was helping them with situating their belongings on the cart. He nodded at the two men, prompting her to follow his gaze, “They approached me, asking if I would be able to help them with raiders pillaging their village.” 

Amreen snapped her head back around, her eyes widening as she looked at him, “Seriously, raiders? Whatever happened to your whole talk of us trying to keep a low profile.” 

“They’re desperate,” he glanced down when he felt her loosen her grip on his arm. “The village is isolated enough, it’ll be safe for the kid.”

“Aside from the raiders.”

“A problem that we can help them with, in turn, they can provide us with shelter.”

Still unconvinced, Amreen nodded her head in the direction of where Cara was, “And Cara is just fine with us staying?”

“She’s going to help us,” Din nodded when he saw the look on her face, his hand reached up to brush against her elbow. “It’s part of the deal we struck, she gets part of the pay and we can stay.” 

As long as there would be no trouble with them staying, then it shouldn’t be a huge deal. Besides, it would be a lot easier for them to stay than try and find another suitable planet to reside on. They were being offered shelter in exchange for their help, that wasn’t a bad deal. Except Amreen could feel her ribs throb at the idea of having to fight off raiders. Still, it was a much better decision than traveling to the void of space. 

After a beat, Amreen breathed out her agreement, “Fine.” 

* * *

Traveling to the village turned into an overnight endeavor. Amreen spent nearly the entire duration trying to get some more sleep. Correction, the first half she was pretending. It was an effort on her part to not have to partake in any conversation with Din or Cara. More from her complete exhaustion rather than her unwillingness to converse with them. As she laid in the cart, she listened intently as Din and Cara continued with a casual conversation. Most of it was about planning what they would do upon arriving at the village. It was all logistics on how they were to deal with the raiders. She tried her best to listen in on the details only to give up in the end. Din would inform her on it all once they were settled. 

About halfway into the conversation, Amreen could feel herself start to fall asleep. The voices of Din and Cara began to muffle together, creating a calming buzz that resonated in her ears. It lulled her further into peaceful bliss until she fully went under. 

The kid, who had been perched up next to her, turned his head and gave a small noise at seeing her asleep. She was curled up on her side, using her scouting bag to use as a headrest. She was very tired. The kid knew that much. He could feel her exhaustion pouring from her and… pain? He wasn’t quite sure if she was hurting, a part of him sensed that it was possible. He couldn’t be sure. Maybe he was confusing pain with her being upset about something. When he awoke from his nap, the kid had no idea where Amreen was. Din was the only one around him and he could sense a change in his energy. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But when Amreen emerged from the cockpit, the kid’s senses went wild. He could feel her mood, she was more closed off than normal. Upset but not sure what about. It wasn’t something he could heal or take care of. He wished he could. Soon, the kid found himself becoming tired. He crawled up closer to Amreen, curling up close to her chest and nestling his head against the crook of her neck. Her heartbeat soothed the child’s ears. He felt safe, warm, and comfortable. Nothing could harm him as long as he was close to them. 

It wasn’t until Din looked down next to him, where the kid had originally been, panicking for a moment before seeing that the little guy was curled up against Amreen. Both were visibly in a deep sleep. The sight was enough to make Din’s stomach jump. Again, something about seeing these two in a vulnerable moment like this stirred something within Din. And emotion he hardly ever thought about. “We should get some sleep,” Din said, making sure to keep his voice low. “We won’t be there until morning.” 

Din waited as Cara settled herself down to a comfortable position. He glanced over at the two villagers, both of whom have already hunkered down for the night. He was the only one awake and alert. Din was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to follow suit and get some sleep. But his instincts were too pronounced for him to ignore. Despite not thinking there was anything too dangerous residing in these forests, he still wanted to keep himself somewhat alert in case anything should happen. Din looked over at the sleeping forms of Amreen and the kid, silently hoping that this was the best choice for all of them. To stay here on Sorgan. He hoped that it would be safe in the village. Reaching over, Din took hold of the coat that was covering Amreen, then slowly pulled it up over her shoulders. Tucking a bit of the fabric around the kid to keep him warm during the night. 

Then, Din leaned back against the side of the cart and closed his eyes. 

….

It was the sound of hushed whispering that woke up all of her senses. The warmth from the sun’s rays was a clear indication that morning had arrived. Amreen gently pried her eyes open, blinking to adjust to the brightness of Sorgan’s daylight. When her vision finally adjusted, she was greeted by the sight of three little faces peering down at her from the side of the cart. She furrowed her brows at the sight which prompted the kids to immediately duck back. Amreen sat up, noticing that Cara and Din appeared to have just woken as well. She glanced down at the kid who was awake and alert, gleefully interacting with the other kids. They seemed to be quite enamored with him, she could necessarily blame them. 

“We have your quarters set up,” one of the villagers who had traveled with them, approached the cart, already picking up one of the compartments. “We’ll take you to them.” 

Amreen quietly waited as she watched Din and Cara step off the cart. The moment she woke up, the ache in her ribs flared, agitated from her sleeping in a cart the entire night. She had a feeling that she would be feeling sore in the morning. Regardless, she couldn’t sit in this cart all day. She tried her best to keep a neutral face as she slowly rose to her feet, biting back the ache in her throat. She just needed to get to their hut and she would be fine. Amreen picked up her jacket, carefully slid the garment up over her arms, then hopped off the cart which was a terrible idea. She couldn’t stop the strained groan that rumbled in her throat. And she didn’t notice that one of the kids, a young girl, had witnessed it. Amreen sucked in a breath, then walked over to the side of the cart and picked up the kid. He was quick to start putting up a fuss, squirming in her arms in an attempt to be put down.

“You want to walk?” She asked as she bent down and gently placed the kid onto the ground. “Alright, come on.” Amreen started forward, Din was already a good length away. Again, the only thing the kid was interested in was exploring this new place. He tried scouting out the various small marshes, curiously dipping his claws into the water. Amreen only attempted to dissuade him when it looked like he was about to fall in. The number of amphibians and insects that garnered this kid’s attention was enough to make Amreen stop several times. She was a little peeved at it but she did nothing to discourage the kid. Besides, she did promise him yesterday that they would let him explore. Well, the kid decided that now was the time. 

They made it to the middle of the actual village. Amreen took a moment to mark where she had last seen Din, he had disappeared into one of the many huts surrounding them.  _ “That must be our temporary home.”  _ From behind her, Amreen could hear hushed voices and quiet giggles. She turned around to see a few of the village kids interacting with the child. But when they spotted her looking at them, the kids immediately stopped and moved away, thinking they were about to be scolded for something. Amreen could feel a harsh sting in her chest at their reaction. “It’s okay,” she calmly assured them. She went to say something else but stopped when the children dispersed. Amreen hoped that she didn’t seem too intimidating, the last thing she wanted was for any child to be afraid of her. The kid seemed upset by the reaction. He was rather excited to play with the other kids. 

“You can play with them later.” 

The offer wasn’t very tantalizing for the kid, he even plopped his little body down and refused to move. 

“Oh, no,” Amreen shook her head while approaching him. “No, we’re not doing this right now.” She placed the compartment she had been carrying onto the ground and knelt in front of the kid, silently cursing at how painful this action was. “We need to settle first, then you can play with them. Besides, you’re going to need to eat soon.” 

That made the kid’s ears perk up. 

“Yes, food,” Amreen said again, emphasizing the last word. “Come on, let’s go.” 

She held both arms out to the kid to pick him up, however before she could, the kid stood up and grabbed onto the sleeve of her coat and onto her arm. “What are you doing?” Her voice sounded panicked but she carefully watched the kid as he climbed up her arm. He seemed to be going for her shoulder.  _ Oh.  _ Amreen leveled out her arm to give him more support. The kid situated himself until he was sitting on her shoulder. And for a moment Amreen remained still, not knowing if this was safe for the kid to do. 

“Hey, kid, I don’t think--” Amreen tried to reach up and tried to pull the kid off but was only met by a loud squeal right in her ear. She hissed and shrank away, “Okay, okay, then just hold onto something.” Amreen braced her hand on the kid’s side, steadying him as she slowly got up to her feet. She heard a small sigh and could feel his tiny claw grip onto the collar of her jacket. “Okay, then.” 

With that, Amreen turned and continued in the direction where she had last seen Din. The hut was decently sized, enough space for the three of them. Not that the kid would be taking up much room anyways. Upon stepping into the hut, Amreen paused when she noticed a young woman talking with Din. Their conversation ceased when they both took notice of her. Amreen almost felt bad, feeling like she was interrupting something. 

“Hello,” the woman greeted her with a warm smile. “I’m Omera.” 

“Amreen.” Why did she feel awkward all of a sudden? It wasn’t like she was interrupting something important. The kid tightened his grip on her jacket collar, prompting her to raise a hand and rest it against the kid’s back. 

Omera took notice of the little guy instantly, her smile only grew at the little guest, “I managed to find enough blankets for all of you, I hope you will be comfortable.” 

“I’m sure we will, thank you for allowing us to stay here.” 

“Well, you are here to help. It’s the least we can do.” 

Amreen heard small footsteps creeping up behind her. She quickly turned and saw a young girl standing outside the entrance. She recognised her immediately, she was one of the faces peering down at her when she awoke. The girl panicked and ducked back and hid behind the wall. Amreen felt her stomach lurch, did she do something to make the kids nervous around her. 

Omera approached the girl and guided her into the hut, keeping her hands on her shoulders. “This is my daughter, Winta. This is all new and different for her, we don’t usually have visitors.” 

Winta stared up at Amreen with wide eyes that occasionally flickered to look at the kid on her shoulder. She was so intrigued by him, maybe Amreen could let them play after the kid ate something. “It’s okay,” Amreen muttered a quiet reassurance that didn’t seem to wane Winta’s hesitation. 

Omera offered the duo a quick smile, took one more look around the hut to make sure everything was in order. “We’ll leave you three to settle in.”

Amreen nodded quietly, watching as the pair finally left the hut. She set down the compartment she had been carrying, then looked over at Din. “She seems nice.” 

Din nodded at her statement but was too curious about what he was looking at in front of him. “What’s going on with this?” 

Amreen shook her head when she saw Din point at the kid, “His choice, I tried to pull him off but the only thing I got was a nice cry in my ear.” She raised her shoulder gently, the kid was still hanging on. “I don’t know what persuaded him to do it.” She had to admit, the kid was doing a good job of keeping himself balanced and upright. “I think we should probably feed him now. The last real meal he had was before landing here.” 

Din approached the pair, his sight directed at the child. “You want to get down?” 

No answer. Amreen could feel the kid’s claw tighten around the collar of her jacket. She saw the way Din’s hand twitched and she shook her head, “Don’t reach for him,” she was quick to tell Din. “He’s only going to make a fuss about it.” Amreen craned her head to the side to look at the kid, “Hey,” she gave the shoulder he was sitting on a gentle rise, it was enough to garner his attention. “You want to eat? You hungry?”

His ears perked up.

“Okay, then you’re going to have to get off my shoulder.” 

That seemed to wane their hold on his attention. The kid simply cuddled up closer to Amreen, he even tried to nudge his face to her neck. 

“Hey, no, we’re not doing that.” She calmly dissuaded the kid, he let out a quiet wail that screamed annoyance. “I know I let you sit on my lap before but this time we’re not going to make an exception.” Amreen raised her arm to rest her hand against the kid’s back. The gesture backfired. The kid thought she was trying to pull him off of her. True to Amreen’s earlier statement, she was met with another loud cry. She cringed and tucked her head down. “ _ Maker. _ ” 

Din stepped forward and pressed his hand to Amreen’s back to steady her, and to make sure that the kid didn’t fall off. “It’s okay,” Din said in an attempt to calm the kid. “We’ll try something different, where’s his food?”

“I packed it away in my bag.” 

Din picked up the bag near Amreen’s feet and rummaged through the contents. He found the half-full canned mash that had been wrapped to better preserve the contents. Din held up the can so the kid could see and it worked. The kid leaned his head away from Amreen’s neck, his attention now solely on the food in front of him. “This is your dinner,” Din said. “If you want to eat it, you need to come down from her shoulder.” The kid hesitated. “It will be easier for you to eat if you come down.”

After having recovered, Amreen turned her gaze back on the kid and watched intently as he weighed his choices. He just needs a little bit more of a nudge. “If you come down from my shoulder and eat your dinner, we’ll let you explore a little bit tonight. You might even get to play with some of the kids.” She wasn’t entirely sure if the kid could understand what she and Din were saying to him. But he must have understood some of it. The claw on her jacket finally loosened. Amreen took that as her sign. She stepped forward, moving her one shoulder closer to Din. He took hold of the kid and set him down in the spare cradle that had been brought. 

“It’s your turn to feed him,” Amreen said to Din. “I want to see if he’ll give you a hard time as he did with me.”

* * *

The kid wasn’t difficult during supper. Din quietly sat and fed the kid while Amreen busied herself with unpacking a few of their necessities. There was no attempt on the kid’s part to try and climb into Din’s lap. He simply sat in his cradle and happily took each fork full of mash. Amreen could only glare at the kid, “That’s so unfair.” She said to him. The kid stared up at her, silently chewing away at the food that was being fed to him. He was just a kid, he didn’t know any better, she couldn’t fault him for any bad behavior on his part. Amreen swallowed down her annoyance and focused on the task at hand. 

When the kid finished with his dinner, the kid remained in his cradle and could do nothing except watch Din and Amreen sort through their belongings. And for a while, the kid was quiet and behaved well. But that didn’t last long. He started to get fussy, tried several times to crawl out of the cradle but only to be stopped by either Amreen or Din. It didn’t take long before the kid started to wail from boredom. 

“Okay, kid,” Amreen approached the cradle and picked him up. “I’m guessing you want to venture outside for a bit, huh?” His cries quieted down the moment those words fell from her mouth. “Of course, you do. I’m gonna take him out here for a bit. I’ll keep an eye on him.” There was still a good amount of daylight for them to utilize, it didn’t seem far fetched to let the kid explore his new surroundings. 

The moment she stepped out of the hut, Amreen placed the kid down onto the ground. His little legs worked quickly. She barely had time to react before she was following him around the village. He wanted to look at everything. He tried to sneak into other huts which Amreen had to veer him away from doing so. The other villagers didn’t seem to mind his curiosity they seemed to encourage him. As long as they didn’t have a problem. She watched him scout out the small marshes that were plotted about the village, for some reason he was quite fond of them. The kid managed to catch a baby frog with his claw, even tried to eat the thing. Amreen had to step in and intervene. The kid  _ just  _ ate. No doubt eating a live frog would probably give him some kind of stomach ache. 

The other children took notice of the duo almost immediately. They kept their distance but avidly watched as these visitors walked about their home, trying to familiarize themselves with the pathways, the new sights, and sounds. However, Winta tried to summon enough courage to approach the pair. She still wasn’t quite sure about the older lady, she wasn’t mean or scary just--intimidating. But she sounded nice on the few short occasions when she had spoken to her. Maybe there was no need for her to be afraid or hesitant. Then, why was she still keeping her distance? 

Amreen took notice of Winta and the other children who were huddled in a circle, all of their eyes focused on her and the kid. She glanced down, seeing that he had stopped and was eyeing the group. He turned to look up at Amreen, silently asking for her permission. At least, that’s what it seemed like. “Go ahead, go play.” 

And for the first time, Amreen saw the kid excited. Genuine excitement to be given the chance to interact with others who were similar in age. It made her think about when was the last time he was able to have this kind of social interaction. Was he always kept in that cradle of his? If so, that meant the only form of social interaction came from the ones who were guarding. And  _ Maker  _ knows how they treated him. No, she could allow him to be a kid for tonight. 

“The children are quite intrigued by him.” 

Amreen gave a small jump at the voice that suddenly appeared next to her. But she visibly relaxed after realizing that it was just Omera. 

She watched the children play for a moment, ensuring that not of them were being too rough with him, “We’ve never seen one like him before.”

Amreen hummed in agreement, “Neither have I.” 

“Is he your son?” 

That made her chuckle a little, “No, he’s…” she paused, nothing was coming to mind. She wasn’t quite sure how to describe the kid. Was he their ward? Or just a kid they were looking after? “We’re just… taking care of him.” Yeah, that was a suitable way to describe this whole situation. Amreen wasn’t quite sure how much she should tell Omera. So far, Sorgan appeared to be a rather safe place for them to be. Still, the less that Omera knew about their little problem the safer she and her daughter would be. 

That seemed to settle her curiosity enough. “Well, that’s very kind of both of you.”

It was either that or let the kid remain in the hands of the Empire. There was nothing noble about her and Din taking the kid under their wings. They handed him over to Imperials. No compliment will ever wash away that horrid taste in her mouth. So she said nothing about Omera’s compliment, hoping it would end that topic quickly. It was the sudden flash of light grey hanging from Omera’s arms that caught Amreen’s attention. Her immediate guess went to an article of clothing. “What’s that?” Amreen nodded at the garment draped over Omera’s arm. 

The young woman offered a smile and held up the garment to Amreen, “It’s for you.” 

“Oh,” Amreen snapped her mouth shut. Was it customary for them to offer clothes to visitors? “I really hope I’m not disrespecting anything… but I do have my own clothes.” 

“Oh, of course, no this isn’t for you to change into and wear around the village,” Omera let out a small laugh, her cheeks growing a little warm from embarrassment. “I spoke to your friend earlier, he told me that you were injured from a past job.”

Amreen pressed her tongue to the side of her cheek, slowly turning around to glare at their hut. She wished that Din was looking at her so that he could see it. “It’s really not that serious,” she answered after turning back around. “It’s just some bruised ribs.”

“Of course,” Omera didn’t want to push her too much or to put words in her mouth. Still, she wanted to help in some way. “He just mentioned to me about your discomfort, and my daughter also told me that you had trouble stepping out of the cart when you arrived.” She clutched the garment close to her, preparing herself for Amreen to reject her next offer. “We take care of many types of injuries here and we have many ways of soothing any pain and discomfort. I wanted to offer you that choice.” 

“That’s very kind of you.” There was no perfectly good reasoning for Amreen to turn down Omera’s offer. Despite getting a fair amount of sleep yesterday, her ribs still felt incredibly sore and raw. And if she was going to help Din with taking care of the raiders, then maybe she needs to fix this problem before it gets worse. “Thank you.” 

Omera’s face brightened at the acceptance. “If you will follow me.”

“I should get the kid back inside.”

“He’ll be alright.” She assured Amreen with a smile. “Winta,” the young girl paused to look back at her mother. “You watch over him, make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.” 

The young girl merely nodded before going back to playing with the others. 

Not that Amreen wanted to discredit Winta’s capability of being responsible, it still didn’t quite sit right with Amreen, “I-I think I should--”

“I promise, he’ll be fine.”

Amreen went to say something else, but Omera had already started without her. She didn’t want to lose track of her. After sparing a glance back at the kid, she quietly followed Omera. The route cut through the village and onto a worn dirt path that led into the forest. That made Amreen hesitate. Where the hell was Omera taking her? While she didn’t expect any malintent, she kept herself alert while she followed Omera further into the forest. 

It wasn’t long into their trek did Omera gain the courage to ask a question that had been probing her mind. “Is it alright if I ask a question?” Omera had slowed her pace to walk alongside Amreen. The latter nodded her head in response. “How did you meet him?” 

“Oh,” the question made Amreen smile. It was an all too familiar question that had been asked of her multiple times. Surprisingly, she never got annoyed by it. 

“He is the first Mandalorian I’ve ever encountered,” Omera explained. “But we’ve all heard stories, I always thought of them as being rather solitary.”

“That’s what I thought too.” Amreen was quick to acknowledge that fact. From what she has been able to gather, most of what people knew about Mandalorians was all from word of mouth. Stories passed down through generations, and those stories would always get muddled up with each passing. It was no one’s fault. “I met him on a bounty job, I had no idea he was going to be there. We ran into each other, he suggested that we bring in the bounty and split the reward.” Amreen let out a small yelp when she nearly tripped over a stray rock in the middle of the path. She kicked it aside as they continued. “I wasn’t keen on fighting with a Mandalorian so I had no problem agreeing. The job didn’t exactly go according to plan. We got ambushed and the bounty got away. I was left with no ship and a pretty bad cut on my leg.” Her hand went to brush against her thigh, a phantom burn resonated beneath the scar. “He… took care of me, I guess. He offered me a place on his ship, we agreed that I was able to leave whenever I wanted.” 

Omera hummed in pleasant surprise, “That was very generous of him.” She never thought of Mandalorians as horrid individuals. But that level of empathy was a bit surprising coming from someone raised in the confines of such strict customs. “How long have you been traveling with him?”

“It’s been a while.” 

Three whole years to be exact. Amreen never paid much mind to how long she has been traveling with Din. However, Omera’s question opened the floodgate. Why _was_ Amreen still traveling with him? She has been given several offers to join other crews, but she turned down every single one of them. The excuse she told herself was that she wasn’t ready. She needed more time to save up credits for her own ship. And she believed this excuse. But walking through the Sorgan forest with that question up in the air, she came to realize that she _liked_ traveling with Din. He wasn’t much of a talker but that was okay to her. Sometimes his silence was all she needed to hear. She has grown used to their routine on the Crest. She always made her presence known as they were waking up from sleep. She never ventured down into the hull without calling out if he had his helmet on. They ate their meals in their respective spots on the Crest, always meeting back up in the cockpit. It wasn’t just the routine of their partnership. She has grown accustomed to _him._ Everything about him. The way his shoulders tensed during high-stress situations, how he always tilted his helmet down to her during their conversations, especially if they were trying to converse discreetly. 

And she was always so gentle with her. That thought nearly made Amreen stop dead in her tracks. Din always was mindful of how he was around her. The way he always handled her being injured was a testament to that. He’s seen her bleeding out, beaten up, and suffering from hypothermia. She always remembered how gentle and careful he was. The way he used calm and precise words to keep her focused, to assure her that she would be fine. He was incredibly skilled at making her feel calm. At the time, she never paid much mind to it. But now looking back, it made her stomach jump at the kind of attention he gave her. He was so different during the calm and quiet life on the Crest. Out on the field during their bounties, it was always by the numbers for them. Doing whatever was necessary to successfully retrieve the bounty and walk away with their lives. It was after they took their payment, and were safely nestled into the Crest’s belly, the ramp door sealing them in and giving them the freedom to be  _ them.  _

Maybe it wasn’t too much to assume this but she felt like she knew Din better than anyone else. A rather bold thought on her end. But, was it entirely false?

Amreen wasn’t sure how long they had been walking, but they finally came across a rather large bathhouse with a smaller hut located a few feet from it. There was a makeshift chimney that was spilling out smoke. All of it looked very comfortable. 

“This is it,” Omera announced as she walked up to the bathhouse, turning around and motioning for Amreen to come closer. “We see quite a few injuries, something like bruised ribs can be soothed by this hot spring.”

Amreen stepped up to the entrance, a wave of hot air brushed against her face as she peered inside. The house itself was rather spacious with a singular hot spring in the center. Just looking at it was making her ribs ache, longing for any form of relief. 

“This is for you,” Omera raised the garment and handed it over to Amreen. “Put it on whenever you’re done.” 

Amreen took the garment, eyeing it before looking up at Omera. “What about you?” 

“I’ll be over there,” she pointed at the other hut. “I’ll let you soak in there for a little bit, if you need anything just call out.” Omera gently coaxed Amreen into the bathhouse before disappearing from the entryway. 

Amreen could only stand in silence, wondering if it was a good idea for her to be doing this. She thought about the kid and whether he was safe and fine. Omera assured her that he would be fine. And she was supposed to just take her word for it? A painful jolt tugged at her ribs and she blew out a deep breath. She might as well enjoy this while she can. Amreen glanced back at the entryway before slowly approaching the spring. She placed the garment Omera had given to her down on the ground. Then, one by one, Amreen shredded off her jacket, shirt, and pants. She stood in the middle of the bathhouse, every inch of her skin exposed to the comforting heat that surrounded her. She looked down to examine her torso, wincing at the massive bruise spreading across her abdomen. Hopefully, this bath will help somewhat. 

She eyed the water, watching as the steam rolled and curled into the air. It seemed safe. And it smelled amazing. Why would Omera encourage her to get in if it wasn’t safe? Amreen rolled her eyes before stepping into the water. Her nerves flared at the sudden rise of temperature. But as she lowered her body into the spring, she felt her entire form immediately relax. She could feel the ache behind her ribs melt away, the pain easing into a comfortable numbness. It felt unbelievable, she almost moaned from relief. 

Amreen leaned back, resting her head against the edge of the spring. The sensation of the hot water relaxing her tense muscle unlocked a memory she had long forgotten. On her home planet Chandrila, there were local bathhouses that housed natural hot springs. The destination was quite popular. Amreen was taken there several times with her family, she would even sneak out of the house at night to go on her own. One of the many things she missed about home. 

She wondered if those springs were still there. If her family still visited them even after she left. 

….

_ “Amreen.”  _

She gave a small jolt. It took a moment of glancing around for her to remember where she was. Amreen hummed, her entire body was relaxed. And no pain or discomfort. Her eyes immediately went to the entryway. There, she could see the shadowed outline of Omera who was barely peeking her head in. “Is it alright for me to come in?” 

Amreen swallowed, her throat suddenly felt dry. Her skin was raw and her head felt hazy, but she felt amazing and relaxed, “Yes.” 

Omera pulled back the privacy curtain and stepped into the bathhouse. Amreen almost wanted to retract within herself but her body remained relaxed. “How are you feeling?” Omera approached the pool, a brown cup in one hand. 

Amreen thought that it looked a little curious but she didn’t pay much mind to it. “A lot better.” She blinked her eyes a few times, “I think I might have fallen asleep.” 

“Mhm,” Omera placed the cup down on a small table. “I think you did too.” 

“How long have I been in here?” 

“About an hour.” 

That made Amreen pause. She ran a hand through her now damped hair, “You should’ve woken me up sooner, I didn’t mean for you to stay out here too long.” 

“Oh, please don’t apologize,” Omera waved off Amreen’s words. “I planned on us being out here for a bit.” She bent down to pick up the garment next to the pool and opened it up. “You’ve been sitting in this pool for a while, you still might be a bit sore.” 

Amreen shifted a bit. While the pain had lessened a great deal, she felt what Omera was talking about. Not to mention her legs felt almost numb. She hesitantly glanced up at Omera, thinking if she was comfortable with her seeing her completely bare. It wasn’t like there was anything wrong with it. It was just Omera. Yet, she was a little embarrassed to even bring it up. 

However, Omera saw the look in her eyes. She raised the garment a little higher, turned her head to the side, and closed her eyes. “I won’t look.” 

Amreen hesitantly stood, allowing her legs to adjust with the weight, and stepped out of the pool. She slipped into the confines of the robe, pulling the fabric to her body and securing the tie around her waist. She was then guided over to one of the benches, her eyes attempting to take a look at what was in the cup Omera had brought with her. 

“You were talking in your sleep,” Omera said. She breathed out a small chuckle at the wide-eyed look she received from Amreen. 

Her body grew warm as if that was even possible at this point, “Did you hear anything specific?” 

“No,” the young woman gently shook her head, hoping that it would ease her worry. “I couldn’t hear the words but I could hear your voice.” 

“Oh,” Amreen clutched the robe closer to her, a sudden chill sent a shiver down her spine. “I think I was dreaming about… things and people that I haven’t dreamt about in a long time.” 

“Your family?” 

Amreen nodded. 

“Where are they?” 

Amreen looked up at Omera, conflicted on what kind of answer should she give her. “I think they’re still back home.” 

Omera’s brows furrowed at the choice of words, “You think?”

“I haven’t seen them in a  _ very  _ long time.” This admittance brought a heavy wave of shame over her. Almost as if she could feel Omera judging her for that answer. Yet, when she spared a look at the young woman, she was only met with a soft understanding gaze. “I don’t think they would leave to go anywhere else, our family has lived there for generations.” 

“Where are you from?” 

“Chandrila.”

A nod. “Why haven’t you gone to see them?” 

“Reasons.” 

And Amreen wasn’t too comfortable with sharing those reasons. Especially to someone that she only met earlier that day. It was that answer that told Omera to not push the topic anymore. 

“What about you?” Amreen switched the question to Omera. “I know you have your daughter, do you have any other children.” 

“Just her.” 

There was almost a hint of regret behind that answer. Perhaps, she wanted to have more children.

“A husband?”

That question almost triggered a flight response for Omera. She hardly ever talked about him with anyone besides Winta. But she swallowed down that discomfort, “He’s no longer with us.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.” 

“It’s alright, he passed a long time ago. Winta was so young, she hardly remembers him.” 

Amreen’s lips twitched at the sides, she knew that feeling all too well. “I don’t know whether that makes it easier for her or not. But I know what that feels like.” A part of her wished that she had been too young to remember that event. “But she still has you, that’s the most important thing.” 

Omera nodded in agreement, “She is my everything. I want her to live a happy and peaceful life. That’s why I’m very grateful that you are here to help us.” 

“We’ll do our best.” An honest answer. Din and Amreen have been incredibly lucky with most of their endeavors. They have yet to encounter a major slip up, and that possibly loomed over them every second. She just hoped that their luck didn’t run out this time. 

Omera looked behind her and picked up Amreen’s discarded clothes. “Here, you should get dressed and then we’ll head back to the village,” she handed off the pile into Amreen’s arms. “And when you get done, drink that,” she pointed at the cup sitting on the table. “It’s an herbal medicine we give out routinely here. It’ll help with your discomfort.”

“Okay, thank you.” 

Omera turned to leave but stopped to turn back, “I should tell you, there are usually some side effects when people drink it. It’s nothing serious or dangerous, I’ve just seen everyone react differently. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.” 

That got her curiosity. Amreen eyed the cup on the table, nothing about it made her feel threatened at all. Besides, she’s trusted Omera this far, and if it is meant to help her then what was the harm in it. “Thank you, I’ll drink it. It can’t be any different from all the other medications I’ve taken.” 

* * *

Din wasn’t one to let himself get carried away with worry. Especially when it came to Amreen, he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Besides, he didn’t expect any trouble with bounty hunters finding them here. Still, when the kid wandered back into their hut with Amreen nowhere in sight, Din would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel his gut lurch. He picked up the kid and went to look for Amreen. The village wasn’t massive; it was easy for him to realize that she was nowhere. It wasn’t until one of the villagers told him that she had left with Omera over an hour ago. 

That meant Amreen was safe. Of course, it did. If something serious had happened, Din would’ve known about it. Still, the fact she just left the kid and said nothing to him. He remembers how he had brought up to Omera his concern over Amreen’s injury. Perhaps that’s why they left the village. Din had the thought to try and go looking for them, but what would the point of that be? There was no danger. Nothing to be concerned about. 

Instead, Din took the kid back into their hut and.... waited. The kid ended up getting a little fussy. Din tried to get the kid down for a nap without success. He settled with allowing the kid to eat a little bit of the packaged meats they had brought with them. When the kid was settled, Din busied himself with checking over his weapons cache. Making sure that everything was accounted for. He wasn’t sure how much of this would be needed to take care of the raiders. Better to be safe than sorry. 

As he continued to check through their weapons cache, there was a noise that appeared behind him. Din immediately turned around, straightening his back once he saw Amreen standing in the entryway. 

Amreen peered down at the kid sitting in his cradle, a prominent smile appeared on her face. A smile that Din had never seen before. It wasn’t off-putting per se, just different. She turned to look back at Din, her eyes widened slightly, “Hi.” Her voice was light with an unfamiliar crisp tone that made Din lean back in confusion. 

“Where have you been?” 

“Oh,” she drew out the word with an exaggerated eye roll, but the smile never faded. “You wouldn’t believe where Omera took me.” Amreen stepped into the hut, a noticeable stumble in her step that made Din take a step forward. She looked down at the kid again, her smile growing as he cooed at her rather peculiar behavior. “There was this bathhouse that she took me to,” Amreen began to explain, her feet continuing to move forward but her eyes still focused on the kid. “And this bathhouse, let me tell yo--” Amreen stumbled over her own feet and fell forward. 

Din moved up just in time for her to crash into his chest, his arms secured around her waist to help balance her. Wherever she was he could smell it on her. A light floral scent invaded his senses. It was almost intoxicating. The sudden fall disoriented her for a moment. Amreen blinked, then looked up into the visor of Din’s helmet, realizing that she was rather close to him. “Oh,” she huffed out a laugh and smiled again. “Hi.” She raised her hand and gave a gentle pat against the side of his helmet. 

“What’s wrong?” Din’s voice was calm but wavered towards the end. 

She had never heard that from him before, it confused her. The smile on her face waned a bit, her eyes scanning fast across his helmet, “nothing’s  _ wrong _ .” She sounded almost offended by his question. 

No, something was definitely  _ off  _ with her and he had no idea how to proceed with this. Din tightened his hold on her after she stumbled again while trying to stand up. Where was Omera? 

The young woman in question ran up to the entryway, pausing when she saw that Amreen was inside. She blew out a relieved breath before stepping in, “Good, she’s here.” 

Both Din and Amreen looked over at Omera, the latter could only smile at the woman before her. “Is she drunk?” Din asked. He ignored the way Amreen twisted back around to glare at him. 

“No, no,” Omera quickly assured him. “I gave her an herbal tea that we give out to help with discomfort and pain. I told her that she was bound to have some kind of reaction, she was more than willing to drink it.” 

“And I’m glad I did.” Amreen struggled to balance herself on her feet but managed to do so. Her one hand holding onto Din’s shoulder for support. 

Omera gently took hold of Amreen’s other arm, “Everyone has a different tolerance, there are always bound to be side effects.” 

“Side effects,” Din repeated. 

Amreen snickered and a toothy grin followed in suit, “Side effects.” 

“Don’t worry, she’ll fall asleep soon enough.” 

“Hm,” Amreen stared at Omera then slowly shook her head. “No, I won’t.” 

“Yes, you will.” Omera corrected her, quite amused by the reaction. “The tea is supposed to help relax you and help you to fall asleep.” 

“I’m not--I’m not going to fall asleep,” She was quite insistent about it, shaking her head lazily. Looking over at Din, she mouthed out,  _ ‘I’m not falling asleep’ _ , before letting out a deep sigh, “I got enough sleep last night.” 

“Okay.” Omera didn’t want to agitate Amreen in this state, settling for agreeing with her. It is how she has always dealt with others who had the same reaction. She gave Din a look, silently conveying to him to do the same. “There is another tea I can give her, it’ll alleviate some of the side effects after she wakes up. For now, she needs to stay here and rest.” 

Din nodded, his entire body freezing when Omera turned around to leave, “What should I do?” 

“Just talk with her and keep her calm. No agitations. I promise that none of the side effects are dangerous. She’ll be fine. I’ll be right back.” 

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Amreen remained still, eyes forward and staring down where Omera had just left. It wasn’t until the kid made a noise did Amreen’s attention finally shift. She looked at the kid for a moment before focusing back on Din, “Omera is so nice, she’s so sweet.”

Din moved his hands so that he was holding onto Amreen by her arms, nodding at her words, taking Omera’s advice. 

“No, she’s really nice. She took me to this hot spring,” Amreen paused and turned fully to face Din, her eyes wide, “Oh, Din, the hot spring. You know I was actually upset with you for saying anything to her about my injury but I’m glad that you did. It’s so nice and amazing. You need to go, you will love it. Actually, go right now.” 

“Amreen,”

“Go to the hot spring and just soak in there a while.  _ Maker  _ knows that you could use some relaxation, you’re always so,” she eyed his form, her hands hovering over his entire torso, her face contorted into a dissatisfied cringe. “Tense. You’re always so  _ tense _ .”

“I’m not going to the hot spring, I’m not going to leave you by yourself.” 

The answer wasn’t the one she wanted to hear. Amreen’s lips pouted at Din’s refusal to go, she gave a limp shrug. “But Omera is so nice.” 

“Okay,” Din gently turned Amreen around and started guiding her to a makeshift cot. “I think you should sit down for a bit.” 

“We just talked, and talked, and talked.” Amreen continued, seeming to have ignored what Din had said. “We talked about family. Her daughter Winta. And her husband, oh, it was sad what happened to him. You know he died, right.” She gripped onto Din’s arms as if her life depended on it. Din kept his hold on her calm, nodding his head along with her to show that he was listening. He managed to get Amreen to sit down. “Winta was so young she doesn’t even remember him. That’s so sad, that is so sad, I can’t imagine not remembering my parents. And then, and then we talked about you.”

“Okay, Amreen,” 

“She asked me how we both met and I obviously told her about what happened. She said that it was very nice of you to help me which it was.” She gave Din’s arm a small pat as if to tell him, thank you. “But you need to promise me that while we’re here you’ll go to the hot spring.”

“Amreen--”

“I mean it, you can go just one time if you like but promise me that you’ll go--”

Din caught her chin between his fingers, effectively making her go quiet, “ I need you to focus and take a breath.” 

Amreen nodded. Her eyes completely transfixed on his visor, her body leaning in a bit closer, “I’m focusing.” 

He felt his body go cold. It felt like she could see his eyes, staring down into his very core. The attention that she directed towards him was unparalleled. Made him feel a way he couldn’t quite describe. His thumb brushed against her chin, moving along her jawline for only a moment, it was enough to where it was noticeable on her end. She hummed at the sensation, surprised by the touch but didn’t pull away. But Din caught himself, He quickly removed his hand, swallowing down the ache that had caught in his throat, “How do you feel?” 

She leaned in closer, almost sending Din off balance as he tried to keep a good distance between the,m, “I feel great, I really do.” 

Okay, he was glad to hear that. He nodded, “Are you in any pain?” He saw the way her face froze in thought, her brows creasing as she tried to answer him. She seemed distracted, almost uncomfortable. “Hey, come on, talk to me.” 

A harsh breath rumbled from her chest, she cleared her throat a few times, Now that she thought about it, “A little uncomfortable.”

“Your ribs?” 

She nodded, her head lazily tilting to the side as she stared at him, “When I got to the bathhouse, I took off my clothes and I saw the bruise.” That statement nearly knocked all the air from Din’s lungs. The casualness of her words gave him whiplash. “It’s pretty big, it goes from here all across to here.” She drew her hand across her abdomen from one side to the other, “It kinda scared me a little.” Silence. Amreen suddenly leaned forward, burying her face into her hands, “I feel like I wanna throw up.” 

Din had his hands braced against her arms, steadying her, “Are you sure?”

“I do and then I don’t. I don’t know.” 

He thought for a moment, she drank a medicinal beverage and now feels like vomiting. His mind rapidly went through possible causes before settling on one, he could only groan at the realization, “It’s probably because you haven’t eaten anything.” 

“You think so?” She felt his hands leave her side, the action causing her to lean back up, she was already missing the comfort that his touch brought her. She watched silently as Din sifted through her bag before pulling out a ration of dry meat. The sight of it made her stomach churn. The thought of eating was almost horrifying. “No, Din, I don't-I don’t want to eat.” 

He ignored her indifference, kneeling back down in front of her and ripping open the pouch, “Just eat a little.” Pulling out a piece and handing it over to her. The smell of it nearly made her vomit all over his boots. Amreen weakly pushed his hand away as he offered it to her, but he didn’t budge, “You drank that medicine on an empty stomach, that’s probably why you’re having such a strong reaction.” 

Even with her clouded mind, Amreen knew that Din was right. There was a voice of reasoning that was trying to guide her through this weird episode, but the voice was so quiet. Barely able to pierce through this temporary wall in her mind. Every ounce of her being was screaming for her to listen to him. She eyed the piece of food in Din’s hand before reluctantly taking it. It was a little tough as she bit off a piece, she winced as she chewed away. “It’s disgusting.” It wasn’t disgusting. She just didn’t have the appetite to want to eat anything. “When I was in the pool, I had a dream.” 

The sudden change in topic was promising to him. At least, she wouldn’t think about how sick she felt. “What was it about?” Din indulged her while making sure that she continued to eat.

“Home. My home. My family. I haven't dreamt about them in a long time.” Never once did Amreen talk about her family with Din. At least, she never brought them up in conversation. The only thing he knew was that she left her home as a young teenager. She never explained why she left, it was never his place to ask. And while he was curious, Din knew what kind of state she was in mentally. Asking her to go more in-depth about them made him feel as if he was betraying her trust. In her normal state, it was highly unlikely that Amreen would have even mentioned anything about this dream to him. He was going to respect her privacy. Instead, he just nodded in acknowledgment, encouraging her to continue eating. 

Amreen didn’t say much after that. Just continued to eat so that Din wouldn’t say anything about it. Although, she had to admit that she was already starting to feel a little better. “You think you can take me back?” Amreen asked after a long pause.

Din placed his hand down on the cot next to Amreen, balancing himself to keep eye level with her, “Where?” 

“To my home?” 

Her home. Again, he wasn’t going to ask for specifics. Deciding to stick with fairly simple questions that didn’t require detailed answered. He placed the packaged meat down next to him, taking a moment to search through her eyes for any sign of Amreen. Any sign that she was starting to come out of this high. “Is that what you want?” 

It was. Partially. Maybe. It was all so confusing. “I don’t know.” A part of her had always longed for her to go back home. If not to stay, to visit her family and reunite with them. To apologize for the choice that she made that undoubtedly hurt them. But she was scared. Scared to face the consequences of her choice, scared to hear what her family thought of her. Or worst, scared that her family would want nothing to do with her if she did return home. Maybe that’s what she deserves. 

Amreen pressed her hand down on the cot, giving a slight jolt when her hand rested against something rough. She looked down and saw that her hand was resting on top of Din’s hand. The sight made her pause, a voice in the back of her head telling her to move her hand. But she remained still and so did Din. She didn’t realize how big his hands were compared to hers. Her thumb brushed over his glove, her palm moving to enclose around his. She wondered what it felt like to touch his skin. She tried to imagine how his hand would feel in hers, his warmth. Were his hands soft or calloused? Maybe they were both, why wouldn’t they be? She felt her body ache with a different sensation. It wasn’t discomfort. It was  _ longing.  _

And she had never felt like this towards Din until now. But she thought back on her conversation with Omera. How it made her realize how gentle Din always was with her. And he was displaying that same gentleness right now. 

She could feel her stomach flutter, that smile returning as she squeezed his hand. She fought against the thought that was telling her to remove his glove. 

_ What the hell, _ that voice of reason rang through louder this time.  _ Don’t fucking do it. Are you crazy? You can’t do that to him.  _

Of course, she couldn’t. She couldn’t betray his trust like that. 

Din watched the way her hand caressed over his own, resisting the urge to turn his hand over and allowing hers to rest in his. Trying his best to ignore the way his chest tightened feeling her hand brushing against his glove. He thought about what it would feel like to hold her hand against his bare one. The feel of her skin against his calloused fingers, the thought nearly sent his mind into a tailspin. He  _ could  _ remove his glove for a moment. Just long enough to feel that sensation. Showing his hand to her wouldn’t be breaking any code. It wasn’t his face. Yet, doing so would make him vulnerable to her. It has been far too long since he’s had that kind of contact with anyone. And it was a dangerous thought for him. His hand twitched, slowly moving it out from under her grasp. And he  _ hated  _ it. “Reen.” 

Amreen didn’t seem to be affected by Din taking his hand away. She looked dazed and unfocused on everything around her. He caught her attention by brushing his thumb against her wrist. When she looked back at him, her eyes were glazed over but he could see how heavy they looked. She was starting to go under. 

“I feel tired.” 

He nodded quietly, “Omera said that would happen.” His voice was thick and heavy, the words themselves sounded messy as if he had no control over them.

Amreen tried to keep herself awake, the more she fought the more exhausted she became. “Din.” Her vision blurred together. He spoke to her. She didn’t hear what he said, his voice had muffled in her ear. And it wasn’t long before she lost all bearings of her senses and fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize how much sleeping Amreen does in chapter until I was editing it! Hope you all enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you all think! I'm really excited about writing this out!


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